As winter quarter begins to wind down, many students are entering the stressful period of apartment hunting in Westwood. If it is your first time searching for the perfect apartment, Westwood might seem a little intimidating. How do you find the perfect place for you and your roommates, your safe haven and home for the next year of school, especially during a pandemic? Westwood is incredibly expensive and there are apartments at different price ranges, with different amenities and at different distances from UCLA. Below I have listed five tips to find hidden gems in Westwood during your future apartment hunt:
- Figure Out Your Price Range
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Westwood has a huge range in the costs of apartments, from older and more affordable apartments on Roebling and Landfair to luxury apartments like Atrium and the Glendon. Before even looking for apartments, make sure you and your roommates choose a price range that works for everyone. Also consider the additional costs that will be paid for water, electricity and other amenities. While the luxury apartments usually have more features including gyms, rooftops and pools, older apartments also have little perks to them. It’s okay if you cannot afford the luxury apartments—a great apartment is less about amenities and more about what you make out of it!
- Take A Tour Before Signing The Lease!
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This was the biggest mistake I made when choosing my first apartment in Westwood. My roommates and I were unable to go and tour apartments in Westwood last summer because we felt uncomfortable due to COVID-19. Therefore, we took virtual tours. While virtual tours give you a general sense of the apartment, they obviously highlight the positive aspects of the apartment while hiding the less ideal features. While I love my current apartment and what my roommates did with it, no one in our virtual tour informed us that our apartment is actually on the garage-level, which is half underground and only gets sunlight for about three hours of the day, nor did they show us our amazing window view of the sidewalk concrete. Do not take after our mistakes; if you have the ability to do so, tour the apartment yourself before signing a lease!
- Think About Location
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Classes will (hopefully) be in person next year, so think about your daily commute to classes. An apartment can be absolutely perfect, but it is not functional if walking to class takes an hour. It is one thing if you have a car, but take location and the commute into consideration, and do not forget about the crazy amount of streets that go uphill in between campus and the apartments.
- Pick Roommates Carefully
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It is incredibly important to choose roommates that are on the same page as you regarding pricing, decorating and apartment amenities. Have conversations about these important factors before deciding to be roommates to save tons of arguments and tension later on. Also before signing a lease with a group of people, make sure your values and lifestyles align because it is much harder to get out of a lease than to switch dorm rooms on the Hill.
- Look For Working Air Conditioning And Heating Systems
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Trust me on this one, Westwood apartments that do not have heating and cooling systems turn into saunas in the summer and freezer units in the winter with little in between. I highly recommend making air conditioning and heating systems a priority in your apartment search. In addition, it is important to make sure that the air conditioning and heating systems that are included in many apartment complexes work. This is another mistake we made; our apartment complex advertised heating and cooling systems but failed to mention that they do not actually work.
Apartment hunting can seem overwhelming, but as long as you follow these basic tips, your apartment will truly be what you make of it. No apartment is perfect but the people that are in it and the atmosphere that is created overrides any apartment quirks. Happy apartment searching!