Ways to Find Housing

1. Walk around. The best way to find housing is to walk around the areas your interested in. Most student housing can be found on the north and west sides of campus. Landlords and housing companies will put out signs on buildings with space to rent. All you have to do is start calling, and keep track of what you find. This sheet should help with that. Keep in mind, though, that in the USC area, it’s a good idea to bring some friends, and to go during the day.
2. Housing4Students.com is a free housing website affiliated with USC. Many landlords list their properties here, so you can narrow your search before checking out the place.
3. Craig’s List is another excellent way to find housing. If you’re not familiar with it, Craig’s List is an online marketplace where locals can list various items for sale. This site is also an excellent way to find furniture for your new place. Please remember to exercise reasonable caution when meeting anyone from the site to make a purchase.
4. Downtownla.com - If you’re interested in living downtown, this is the best resource I know of. You can take a virtual housing tour, or sign up for one of their free Saturday housing bus tours, which will take you around the area and inside a wide variety of available units.

Helpful Chart to Take on Your Housing Search

I developed this chart during my own housing search, and have since added to it as I gained more experience. Feel free to save it, and print one out for every place you visit. It's a great tool to make sure you don't forget anything, and to keep track of which units have what.

How to Begin Your Housing Search

The first stage in the process is to think about roommates. Do you need/want a roommate, and if so who do you want to live with? Get in touch with possible candidates as soon as possible. It's important to start talking about your housing priorities early on with your potential housemates. They may have some of their own thoughts on where they want to live, which may be different than yours. Be sure to communicate about what your priorities, but be flexible, too. In my experience, having a good roommate is far more important to your quality of life than having the “perfect place”.

Next, start thinking about what you're looking for. Some questions to ask yourself before you begin:

• How close do you want to be to campus? Do you have to be within walking distance, biking distance, or are you willing to commute?
  
• Do you want your own room?
  
• Do you want to have pets? Do you want to live in a place where pets are allowed, or will dogs, cats, birds, and all the requisite sights, sounds and smells bother you?
  
• What is your price range? Keep in mind that rent does not always include utilities such as water, power, gas, etc.
  
• Do you need parking?
  
• How about Air Conditioning and other amenities?
  
• What other issues are important to you? What will make or break a housing deal?

Starting Your Housing Search

Back in Sophomore year, when I was looking at apartments, I came across a great looking place online. It was renting for $600 a month, all utilities and parking included, pets OK, and not too far from campus. It seemed too good to be true. I checked it out, and was pleased to see it was spacious, comfortable, and nice to look at. As the landlord and I walked outside again, I noticed a large, empty lot next door, which appeared to be a construction site. One of the workers was walking past, so I asked him what they were building. “Oh,” he said, “that’s not a construction site. That’s an oil field. We’re on a break now, but just wait until Fall. It’s a sight to see. We start drilling at 7 AM and don’t stop until 9 at night.” Funny how the website never mentioned that...

Which brings me to my NUMBER ONE rule when finding the right place: NEVER SIGN A LEASE IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE UNIT! I know this can be difficult, and is sometimes even impossible, but the only way to ensure that you get what you’re expecting is to go and see it yourself. Don’t just take a brief look around, either. Even if there are tenants in the unit at the time, don’t let your discomfort make you rush. Remember, we’re talking about your quality of life for at least the next year. This chart will help give you an idea of what questions to ask the leasing agent.

Side Note: While most, if not all, University Housing comes fully furnished, most Non-University housing does not. Be prepared for a shopping trip or two.

Checklist: Questions to Ask and Stuff to Do

1. Walk around the neighborhood - If you haven’t already, walk around the area you’re looking at. Try walking and/or biking to and from campus to get a feel for how long it will take. You can’t really know the neighborhood until you’ve gotten out of the car and taken a good look around.
   
2. How many buildings does the company manage, and how many handymen do they have on their maintenance staff? I found out after the fact that one company I moved in with managed about 25 buildings, with only one full-time maintenance man. Occasionally, they'd hire contractors, but this meant that work orders took a long time to get filled and things got backed up. Also, it’s helpful to meet some of the maintenance staff beforehand, if possible. A big part of the reason I chose that company was that the maintenance man they did have was one of the sweetest, most competent handymen I'd met.
3. What’s Included in the Lease? Utilities? If so, which ones? Trash? Parking, etc. if certain things aren't covered, you will likely wind up paying $50+ per month above and beyond your basic rent.
4. Is there Internet, and if so, what kind? Is each unit hooked up properly, or is one person sharing WiFi with the whole building? Who is the service provider?
5. Do I have to set up the Internet myself? Even if Internet is covered in your rent, you may have to schedule the installation yourself. You definitely want to know this in advance. If you have to schedule installation, you'll need to call the Internet service provider well before you move in, because they can book up months ahead of time. Keep in mind, everyone will be installing Internet during the first few weeks before and after the semester starts.
6. Is there parking, is it gated, and how much does it cost? Also, is it tandem ('cause tandem can be a pain in the tush)? Is the parking lot lit? Make sure you see the parking space, too, and that you'll be able to get your car into it. I've seen many "parking spaces" that were literally impossible to get a car into.
7. Are pets allowed? If you want pets, the reason for this question is obvious. If you don't, however, you need to decide if you're willing to live in an apartment complex that may have barking dogs or meowing cats.
8. Is there a stove? A fridge? A microwave?
9. Is there heating? Heating is required by law, but that doesn't mean it'll be there. And even if it is, it may very well be archaic and bring to mind images of England during the bombings of WWII, which don't instill feelings of comfort and security over fire safety.
10. What about A.C.? Again, see it for yourself. If they say there's A.C., that could mean a lovely, brand-new central air conditioning system that enables you to keep your unit slightly above freezing even during the summer months... or it could (more likely) mean a crappy little window unit in the living room that winds up heating the place, rather than cooling it. Also, be sure to try the A.C., especially in brand-new units. One place I know of recently had central A.C. installed. Unfortunately, the contractors screwed up, and didn't connect the vents to the third floor. So, the bottom two floors were nicely chilled, but the third floor was stifling. Best of all, the contractors refused to fix it, and the landlady was out-of-town, so the tenants couldn't do anything but suffer through the hottest weeks of summer.
11. Is subletting allowed? Not all landlords want subletters. If you want to go home for the summer, or go abroad, it's important to be able to lease your unit (unless you have oodles and oodles of cash, and losing several months worth of rent doesn't matter to you).