Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part Six: Your Bedroom

"Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part Six: Your Bedroom", April 2008

Last, but certainly not least in this series is your bedroom. It is without question the single most important room

in the house, because it's where you sleep. Or at least sleep some of the time, because we all sleep in classes sometimes. In case you missed the earlier articles, I wrote about the bathroom, the kitchen, the laundry room, the front closet, and the common room. If you lived in residence this past year, a great deal of the things you brought will become useful again in your new place. If you did not live in residence or student housing before, I have a few suggestions of things you can bring to make your life a little bit more organized.

If you are like most university students, you are going to spend the most amount of time in your bedroom. Here you will do school work, study, get dressed, hang out, sleep and probably a whole bunch of other things. The size of your bedroom will unfortunately decide all of what you can do in your room, as well as what you can put in it.

The two most important items in your room will be your bed and desk. From there, anything else you can cram in is a bonus. And I really mean it. You may think having a double bed in a small room is a good idea, but it leaves little, if not any floor space. As sad as I am to say this, sometimes a single bed really is better. (But not when you are sharing it!!!) Some student bedrooms are quite small. But if you’re lucky, you may have scored a larger room. Regardless of the size, you want to find a variety of items that keep you organized and your room uncluttered.

This means closet organizers, shelving, small plastic drawer units, milk crates, storage that can go underneath the bed, small baskets, bookshelves, shoe racks, night tables, coat hooks, dressers etc. The key is to find everything at the cheapest price possible, unless you plan on buying a really nice set which will last you way into your adult years. Check out reuse-it centres, second-hand stores, family (sometimes they have stuff you can use in their basements or garages), IKEA, and discount department stores. You can also see what has been left behind by students who have moved out. Most leases are over as of May 1st, so abandoned furniture will show up the week before and after by the roadside. Just make sure you clean the hell out of it.

Your landlord may have given you permission to paint your room. If so, remember dark colours absorb more light, so you will need more artificial light to see by.

Contrastingly, dark colours absorb more light, so the sun won’t wake you up. Just make sure you know what the agreement for painting is before you do anything. Some landlords let you do anything, but others only let you use a few colours, or make you re-paint the room before you move out after your lease term expires. Same goes for putting holes in the wall. You don’t want to have to pay to get holes patched up when you leave.

As I have said in other articles about personal space, don’t under estimate your own decorative touch. Put up posters, artwork, signs, photos, three dimensional art, mirrors etc. This space is going to be yours for the next twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six or even forty-eight months. You don’t want it to not feel like your own. Buy obnoxiously coloured bed sheets if that’s what you like. Paint all your furniture black. Use chalkboard paint on your desk. Tie dye your curtains. Write inspirational quotes on the wall with marker. Do what you want; your parents can’t say that they won’t let it happen because you’re no longer living in their house (w00t!)!

Just remember at the end of all of it, you have to remove everything. Since I am now going the moving-out process, I wish I didn’t have as much crap as I do. It would make packing a hell of a lot easier than it is at the moment.

Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part Five: The Common Room

"Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part Five: The Common Room", April 2008

I didn’t know what else to call this room in your house, as it can go by many different names:

Family room, living room, dining room, TV room or common room. Just because we call it as such in my student house, I’m going to stick with the name common room. I am supreme overlord. DO AS I SAY AND FOLLOW SUIT!! Or, not. It doesn't really matter to me.

This will likely be the most social room in the house. Why? It has a television. Or, rather if you should so choose, it will have a television. It sounds really bad for me to say this...but I can’t live without a TV. It’s not even that I watch a lot on a regular basis (Friday Night Lights, Family Guy and House M.D being the exceptions), but I have a tendency to watch it passively while I eat dinner (and thus watch the Simpsons, Family Guy and Friends). That, and its fun to procrastinate by watching the Discovery Channel and TLC (Myth Busters, Dirty Jobs and John and Kate Plus 8!!).

Along with a TV, you will (or may) want a VCR or DVD player to watch movies. Same goes for a gaming system (if you’re that kind of person...I am not). Where will you put these items? On empty cardboard boxes you used to move yourself in, milk crates, or in an entertainment unit? Sure, it's fine to have all of these things, but keeping everything on the floor just looks, well stupid. You may be a student, but that doesn't mean style goes out the window completely when you're on a budget.

More important than a TV is seating. Unless you all like to sit on the floor, you will need to acquire some couches and chairs.

Another good idea is to bring some lawn furniture in. I realize this suggestions sounds very Southern U.S. Redneck Hick-ish...but if you have a lot of people over at your house they will likely not all fit in the furniture you have. You can also hide said tacky furniture somewhere (front closet!) when not in use. Another upside is that it is pretty cheap: many chairs cost less than ten dollars each. Some of them even come with their own cup holders. It is really a win-win situation.

Along with this, you will need some tables. End tables are good for holding drinks, as well as for storing small items. Large tables are better for dining off of, and playing games such as flip cup. I'm not advocating drinking games, but if you play them, you need to think about the height of your table. Coffee tables are beneficial overall, as they can be used to eat off of, as well as rest one’s feet. TV tables may be a useful (and cheap) investment as well, especially if you haven’t perfected the art of eating off of your lap.

Also you will need some lighting. I love lamp (yes, I am quoting from Old School). Also, if you outfit your lamps with energy efficient bulbs, you can knock a little bit of money off of your electricity bill. Lighting helps people from clumsily bashing their knees on furniture. At least some of the time.

Other than that, it’s all decorative preference. Never under estimate the value of a good throw pillow. Not only can they be used as weapons, but they can also double as seating in a pinch. My current house has a bunch of posters on the wall from when we lived in res, as well as a wall of stupid things we all say. Similarly, there are some rather weird objects that tie into each of our personalities, but serve no real function, other than as a collector of dust. Also, it’s almost obligatory to decorate with empty liquor bottles. Why? I don’t know, but apparently that the thing to do in University. Admittedly, none of the bottles in my house are mine...I’m not a big drinker.

You now have all of the common areas of your house accounted for. Now all is left is the last article in the series: your bedroom. Out of curiosity though, does anyone know where to get milk crates? I talked about them a lot in this article, but actually have no idea where one would get them.

Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part Four: The Front Closet

"Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part Four: The Front Closet", April 16 2008.

Okay, I realize bringing things to outfit a closet probably sounds pretty weird. Not only do I not know

where else you would put these items, I have a feeling many of you won’t keep said items in your front closet. You may not even have a front closet, for all I know. But I'm basing everything on the layout of my current house (which I will be leaving in a few weeks *sniff*), so not all of this may apply to you.

Anywhoo, in my house, all of the common cleaning supplies are kept in this...place. If you have carpet, you will need a vacuum cleaner. If you’re lucky enough to not have any carpet (I personally can’t stand it), then you can make do with a dust pan and broom (dollar store). Although it is not necessary, I think having a Swiffer is a good idea; it really does pick up what a broom leaves behind. And the Swiffer Wet has disinfecting properties. I sound like a total clean freak with all of my talk of disinfecting in previous articles...but you’d be surprised how quickly things get dirty in a matter of a week (and it helps keep the mousies away...). So now you can clean the common areas of your house.

However, some other items are usually stored in this space: shoes. I don’t think any one person in a house will only have one pair of shoes. So what do you do with the extras? Some you keep in your respective rooms (like dress shoes), but the others (the ones you wear more often) can go on a shoe rack. That leaves space for your cleaning supplies (as mentioned in the previous paragraph), as well as your shoes.

Matched up with shoes is the idea of mats. In the winter months, and during rainy times you will bring in a lot of muck and wetness and whatnot into your house. You should have some sort of rubber mat to put your wet shoes. Guess where you can buy these? The dollar store; but if you want you could go to Canadian Tire, Home Depot or Rona and buy the same thing for at least five times more. It’s up to you.

If you all have a lot of winter clothing items (gloves, mitts, hats, scarves etc) you may want to put some sort of baskets in the higher regions of the front closet to store them. You can either pick up some baskets from the dollar store, or use shoe boxes; whatever suits your fancy. That way you can find them when you need them, and you don’t have to keep them in your room. You can also store things such as Frisbees, soccer balls, footballs et cetera up there as well.

And there you have your front closet. And now you know what I meant (w00t!).

Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part Three: The Laundry Room

"Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part Three: The Laundry Room", March 2008

Unlike my previous article on the kitchen, this one is going to be short. Why? Because there isn’t a lot of stuff you will need to bring to outfit the laundry room.

There is the obvious stuff you will need, such as fabric softener and dryer sheets. There it is. Done, right? Wrong! I'm a sneaky little bugger.

How many time were you in residence with something you needed to hang dry, and nowhere to dry it? Maybe this didn’t happen to you all that often, but if it did you can lament on how much of a pain in the ass it was to find somewhere in your room to hang up your stuff. OR how you ruined said clothing item by putting it in the dryer. Thus, you will need something to hang dry your clothes on. This happened to me a lot...I hate sticking jeans in the dryer because they shrink and then they’re too short...and I look terrible in cut-offs.

A clothes horse works well for a few items, but once you start piling them on they can topple over. Have a lot of stuff you need to hang dry? You can buy some rope and string it from the rafters in your ceiling, effectively making a small clothesline. Buy some clothespins (also called clothes pegs [apparently my dictionary in Word has no idea what I’m talking about]) from the dollar store, and you are set. You can also have an outdoor clothesline if you would prefer. But keep your underoos off of those, as Hamilton is notorious for underwear thieves. Seriously.

Hang drying your clothes is better in three ways. First of all, it saves you money on your hydro bill. The average dryer uses 5000 watts of electricity to dry your clothes. 5000 watts for each and every second, minute and hour it is on. The longer you leave the dryer on, the more wattage is used, and the more money you need to pay. In comparison, an incandescent light bulb uses only sixty watts. The dollars really add up when you use your dryer. Second, in the winter months when it is dry, the liquid from the clothing adds moisture into the air you breathe in. This is helpful because it makes breathing easier, and also helps if you are prone to nosebleeds. Lastly, hanging clothes to dry saves energy. This is linked closely to the first...but we’re university students. We’re tight on cash and tend to think about that first.

Now, I’m not saying you need to hang dry each and every item that goes into the washer. But if you can decrease the amount of things that go in the dryer (for example only drying your bedding, towels, and items you need to shrink), you can save some dough, as well as help yourself and the environment.

See, you only really need five items for this room. I told you this was going to be pretty short.

Moving Home for the Summer

"Moving Home for the Summer", April 14 2008.

As the academic year is drawing to a close, many of us will be leaving Hamilton to move back home for the next four months.

Leaving university and moving back into the family home can be full of a lot of challenges; not only for you, but for your parents, siblings, and even your pets (really!). However, if you do a few things when you first get home (hopefully) your summer at home will be one with (relatively) little conflict.

University life is pretty awesome, because you get to choose your own rules. Sure, there are some you still need to obey (like the ones in res), as well as the law in general, but for the most part you can live your life exactly how you want to. I know the way I choose to live my life is different than the way I lived when I was at home with my parents before university. Even the way I lived the summers while at home is different than the way I live on my own. I’m sure a lot of you are in the same position. There are things you do now that you didn’t do before. Some of these things your parents may not agree with, which is obviously the issue. What do you do?

Have a talk with your parents. You’re an adult now (unless you’re some sort of freakishly smart kid who started university the same year you celebrated your seventeenth birthday), so you’ve got to act like one so that your parents have mutual respect for you. Find out what your rules are. You may have a curfew again. You may not. Maybe you can get your parents to come to the agreement where they don’t care when you get home, but you have to call if you’re going to stay out past a certain time. Breaking these rules will only cause more conflict, no matter how dumb you think they may be.

There will likely be other similar rules in your house you need to discuss. Can your significant other sleep over? Can they sleep in your bed? If you’re still underage, are you permitted to drink alcohol in the house with their permission? When is it too late to be playing music loudly: 9PM? 10PM? 11PM? Never? What time do you need to have guests leave your house? Of course there all kinds of other rules that you may have had in the past, or may have now...these are just some suggestions based on me and my friends in our experiences at home. You may be incredibly lucky and have no rules at all. Regardless of if you have rules or not, there are some things you should do while at home to show that your time at university has helped you grow up.

If you’re driving the car, fill up the gas tank. I know I hate getting into a car with no gas, and I don’t know anyone who thinks otherwise. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has been peeved off when they have to fill up the tank in order to go anywhere. Also, don’t use the backseat as a garbage bag. Eeeew.

Volunteer yourself to help out. This can be done by doing the grocery shopping, cooking a meal once a week, washing the car, mowing the lawn, weeding etc. It’ll show your parents you’re taking initiative in helping the family, and that you’ve matured while you are away.

You’re all going to hate me for saying this...but you should also think about possibly contributing to some of the family bills if you are working. This will teach you how to budget your money better, and again show your parents how you’ve grown. 10% of each pay check is a reasonable amount. Maybe you can get your parents to put this money aside for you and give it to you at the end of the summer for a large purchase instead.

Lastly, choose your battles wisely. I think it’s fair to say that you will not see eye to eye the entire time you are there. If there is something you really want, then talk to your parents about it. However, when you are in the discussion with them, have solid rebuttals to back yourself up. Acting like a child will only cause your parents to hold their position more. The key to any relationship, no matter who is involved is compromise, so make sure that you do so this summer.

Good luck!

Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part Two: The Kitchen

"Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part Two: The Kitchen", March 2008

This may very well be one of my favourite rooms in the house...mostly because I’m a fat kid at heart (I’m all over pasta like a fat kid on a Smartie). It is also the room that needs the

greatest amount of stuff. Unfortunately, because there are so many things found in a kitchen I will not be giving you an itemized list. If I was to do so, this article would likely be several pages long. So, I’m going to give you a short of general overview, but you have parents and older siblings to help you out with the specifics.

First of all, you will have your fridge(s). How many people will be sharing each of the fridges? And, how many freezers will you have? My house had two fridges for five people, but only one of those fridges had a freezer. Five people in one fridge freezer does NOT work: there simply is not enough space. Hopefully your landlord will have another freezer for you. If not, try asking for one. If they say no you may have some difficulties. Again, you have two options. You can either split the cost of a chest freezer, or see if someone in the house can buy one. That person can do with it what they will after you move out of the house. Also, if there are a lot of people sharing fridge space, you may want to invest in a bar fridge (like the ones in res) to keep in your room for certain items. It’ll increase your hydro bill, but at least you’ll have a little bit more space (and won’t need to buy groceries every couple of days).

After you’ve got those situations sorted out, you’ll need to clean those appliances. Students tend to be extremely lazy when cleaning up after spills in their fridge (which is incredibly annoying if you are sharing or acquiring said fridge). I’m pretty sure you don’t want to put your clean food in someone else’s mouldy refrigerator, no? Get out your cleaners, sponges and paper towels and go nuts.

Now comes the issue of dishes, pots, potholders, utensils, pans, cutlery, baking sheets, measuring cups and spoons, dishtowels, cheese graters, timers, can openers, dish racks and the like. There are two options: everyone brings a few of each for their own exclusive use, or have a few people be in charge of acquiring the necessary items (either by buying them new, getting donations from family or hitting up garage sales).

If you think someone will be on top of their dishes enough to use only what they have brought you are living in a dream land. Everyone falls behind in cleaning their dishes, and sometimes certain people are always behind. And by always I mean at least two or three days at a time. All the time, no matter how high their pile in the sink gets; threatening to topple over and cause a disaster. Anyways, getting back on track...I have found that having a common set of dishes works the best. However, you can still have certain items that you alone can use, but they are best kept in your room.

What about the small appliances: microwave, toaster, crock pot, toaster oven, rice cooker, blender, George Forman Grill, barbeque (okay, technically not an appliance, but it fits best here)? Are you going to split the cost, or certain people going to bring them, allow them to be for a common use, and then take them home later?

And of course, during the year you are going to need to clean the kitchen on a frequent (weekly at the very least!!!) basis. This means you need to determine how you are going to be splitting cleaning supplies. As I mentioned in my previous article about the bathroom, I think it is best if one person buys all of the necessary stuff, and the cost is split amongst everyone. Some things you will need include paper towels, sponges, dish soap, rags, garbage bags, something to put behind the elements in the stove, something to clean the counters, something to clean the floor, and mousetraps.

Yes, mousetraps. I know I sound a little gross here, but the reality of the situation is, that as a student house you will have a mouse (or mice) at least once. Most of the houses around Mac are older, and thus there are lots of places for mice to sneak in. Mice can squeeze their way through a hole the size of a dime. Pair that with people who don’t clean up properly (crumbs are left from not cleaning the floor), or don’t store food properly (mice can smell food through plastic as well as get into it. If you are not storing your food in tins or Tupperware you will have a problem), and you will have an infestation. I'm just getting you to err on the side of caution here. But don't get mad at me if you get mice in your place.

There you have it. You now have the necessary items you will need for your kitchen. But don’t forget to get some fridge magnets too, especially something like Magnetic Poetry Kit. What? I like toys.

As a little afterword to this article, I want to mention the MacShare website. You can check out an article Chad wrote about it here. You can peruse the website here, and perhaps your new place has been evaluated...and you can get the dirt on your landlord.

Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part One: The Bathroom

"Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) Part One: The Bathroom", March 2008

Ah yes, the bathroom. A lot of important business happens in here. Sometimes you don’t get to spend as much time in there as you would like, and sometimes you will spend a little bit too much. Regardless, you are going to in there quite a bit.

The first thing you need to do is SANITIZE. I realize this isn’t really something you need to bring, but it really is something you need to do. Do not rely on your landlord to clean for you. They may be bringing in people to clean your house, but they will only be removing what is easy to clean and see. Sad to say, but unfortunately very true.


Getting back on topic...Buy yourself some bleach, and get a spray bottle and some sponges. Dilute the bleach a little bit, and just go nuts in the shower. Clean it several times. You don’t want to have anything left from the previous tenants in the bathroom when you move in (gonasyphaherpales anyone?). You will also need to clean the bathroom floor, the toilet, and the bathroom sink, although you may not need to do quite so much scrubbing (or hopefully not!).

Now that your bathroom is clean, you can think of what you will need to bring. Depending on the kind of shower you have, you may need a shower curtain. Regardless of what your shower looks like, you will certainly need a bathmat for when you get out of the shower. Also, go purchase some shower organizers from the dollar store; that way you can keep all of your shower stuff separate from those you share the bathroom with. You may also want to get some additional towel hooks and rods (again dollar store) if there is only one in your bathroom. This is a preference thing; I find it easier to keep a bath towel in the bathroom, so I can use it periodically throughout the day to dry my hands after washing them, as well as so I don’t forget my towel when I hop into the shower (unless you and your housemates are cool with you prancing around in the nude). Last but not least, you will also need a brush to clean your toilet.

I am not done with the bathroom quite yet, though. There is now the matter of all of the products you will need to outfit your bathroom with. I have found the best way to determine that everything in the bathroom is being taken care of equally is for one person to buy everything, and then divide the cost amongst everyone and pay the purchaser back. The person who buys can change throughout the year, but I think doing it in this fashion is the most fair.

As for what you need to buy: toilet paper, paper towel, Windex, something to clean the toilet bowl (such as Toilet Duck), paper towels, sponges, and something you can use to clean the floor. Swiffer cloths work well, and if you’re lucky you can buy the mop and share it for multiple parts of the house. If you or your bathroom-mates have a sensitive nose, you may also want to invest in some sort of air freshening spray for those smelly times.

And that my loyal readers, is the bathroom. Stay tuned for the rest of the house, which will be upcoming over the next several weeks.

Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) [Introduction]

"Off-Campus Housing Series Two: Your New Place (And What to Bring) [Introduction]", March 2 2008

Soon you will be moving into your student house. If you have never moved before, thinking about what can bring can be a pretty daunting task. You have to go through every room of the house (or at least every room that you are sharing/have access to), and think about what you will need to acquire. I have acquired a list for the following rooms: the bathroom, the kitchen, the laundry room, the front closet, the common room (AKA your TV room, living room, or family room), and of course your bedroom. Some of what we will mention is obvious. Some of it...well, you’ll be glad we told you about it.

Keep checking over the remainder of the term, as the various parts of the article will be going up between now and the end of exams.

Although some of your will have moved away from home before (living in residence), moving into a student house is a completely different experience in many ways. You have no idea what you have gotten yourselves into...

Of course, you will need to examine what has been left behind before you go out and get the items you will need. If the previous tennants are leaving a lot of things, you may not need to aquire a lot. But if you don't even have light bulbs when you get possession of your place...you're in for a little bit of a surprise.

Off-Campus Housing Part Five: What’s Included?

"Off-Campus Housing Part Five: What’s Included?", January 2008

So now you have found your dream house; or at least somewhere you can sleep at night. But now comes time to sign the lease (unless you are reading this just to be informed, and not piece by piece as it pertains to what is occurring in your life), and there are some other things you will need to know when it comes to signing a lease.

First, what sorts of utilities are included when you sign this lease? Is your lease all-inclusive? By that I mean all of your utility bills are covered in the cost of your rent. Are none of them included? This means that your rental fee per month does not include any of your utilities. Or perhaps is it some intermediary of the two? I will tell you now, you are lucky if your rent has all of your utilities included, and is still less than $375 per month. Very, very lucky. Especially if you’re in Westdale. AND if the place is a nice one.

You will also need to know who is responsible for the utility bills. Some landlords pay them, and you pay them back, in addition to what you pay for rent. Others have nothing to do with the utilities, and the tenants are responsible for setting up the accounts with the companies themselves. Set-up fees are expensive, however you often get the deposit back after a year, so it tends to work out in the end (provided of course you choose to stay in the house).

Finally, you need to know what kind of a rental you are paying for, as there is more than one. A room rent is exactly what it sounds like. You are paying to rent your room, and are responsible for only that room. The kitchen and any common areas are a kind of “bonus”. A property lease is all of the tenants in a house splitting the overall monthly cost of rent on the house. Should someone leave, this means everyone is stuck covering the cost. Ideally, you are safer having a lease that is a room rent, in the event that someone leaves.

How long do you plan on living in this house? Are you planning on working in Hamilton in the summer, and not moving in until September? If you answer was the latter, this would mean you will want an eight month lease. However, this kind of lease is somewhat hard to come by. Most often, the rental term you will be signing will be for twelve months, starting on May 1st. For those four months then, your house is either a) going to be sitting idle, and you’re going to be losing money b) a place used to party some weekends, where the parents can’t get you in trouble, or c) being rented out to someone else for the summer. There will be more information on sublets coming up in a subsequent article, sometime in the spring.

Something that needs to be considered, and usually isn’t a pertinent matter to one’s lease is parking. Does anyone, or will anyone in the house have a car? Does anyone have a partner from out of town who visits often? What about frequent parental visits? Can you park on the street overnight without getting a ticket? I have found that parking can be taken for granted in university houses. And for some people very expensive.

It is also worth mentioning who is responsible for maintaining the property. Some landlords have the grass mowed and the gardens maintained as part of the rental agreement, while others believe it is the responsibility of the students. Snow removal is also something that must be considered, as the City of Hamilton will fine homeowners who do not shovel their portion of the sidewalk.

And there you have it. You are now (at least somewhat) well-informed in making a sound choice for living off-campus for next year. As in previous articles, this list is by no means exhaustive. If you have other questions, please feel free to ask. Additionally, there will be more articles to this series later on in the spring (as previously mentioned), but they will pertain to other issues.

Off-Campus Housing Part Four: What to Look For When Looking At Places

"Off-Campus Housing Part Four: What to Look For When Looking At Places", January 2008

Just like myself in first year, you likely have NO idea what-so-ever what you should be looking at when you are looking at student houses. And by this I mean things in the actual house, and not to do with the lease (that is addressed in Part Five of the series). So what are some things to consider, you may ask?

First, what is the current condition of the house? How are the current tenants treating it? Does it smell funny, look filthy, have animal poop all over the place (I once looked at a house where the tenants (illegally) had a dog, and didn’t clean up after it. Needless to say we got the hell out of there as soon as possible)? When you move in, you will have to clean up anything that the previous owners leave behind. Your landlord may say a cleaning service is going to come in and clean after the previous tenants, but regardless you will still need to clean.

The best people to get information from about the house are those who live in it presently. How much are their utility bills? Do they think their rent is more expensive than the place is worth? Who do they get their internet from? Do they have any recommendations for you?

Although the landlord may have had possession of the place for over a decade, they won’t (necessarily) know what it is like to live in it. Additionally, you can find out what the landlord is really like by asking the tenants. Sure, the landlord seems like a good person now, but they are trying to sell something (i.e. the house). During the summer and school terms do they not return calls for over twenty-four hours? Do they promise things and not hold up their end of the bargain? These are very important things to know. However, I would recommend you do this without of earshot to the landlord.

Are there certain idiosyncrasies of the house that one would need to consider? Can you not wash dishes in the kitchen sink if someone is in the shower? Does using a hairdryer in the upstairs bathroom blow a circuit to half of the house? Does the laundry room flood in the spring time? Does it get wet in the basement bedrooms when it rains? Can you open all of the windows in the house, or are some of them nailed shut? Does it get so hot in the summer that you can melt a candle? These are only a few of many questions you could ask.

There a number of things you should test out yourself while you are at the house as well. What is the water pressure like in the showers and the sinks? How easy is it to open and close the doors or the windows? Are there things you can hit your head against when you walk down the stairs? How sturdy are the banisters?

Then there are the fun things you need to look for. Is there noticeable mould? What about water damage? Are there a lot of mouse traps out (evidence of an infestation...or there was one...)? What about centipedes, millipedes, enormous spiders or ants? You likely don’t want these sorts of things either.

That is all I can really think of for the physical structure of the house. However, there are still many things you need to know before you can go about signing a lease (without screwing yourself over).

Off-Campus Housing Part Three: Where to Live?

"Off-Campus Housing Part Three: Where to Live?", December 2007

Like many other areas, Hamilton is divided into zones. For a visual of the zones (because I couldn’t really explain them for the life of me), check out the map. Now, Zone 1 houses are closest to Mac, and Zone 8 are the furthest. Most students tend to live in Zone One, with some living in Zone Two. This is not to say that students don’t live in the other zones, however most Mac students tend to live closer to Mac.

Zone One encompasses the areas from Longwood to Main St. West to the 403. Approximately half of Zone One is the Westdale area, which has grocery stores (the Barn) various places to eat (Pita Pit, TCBY, Niche, others), and various other amenities. The other half of Zone One is on the other side of Mac (near Thode and Keyes and whatnot). There are some issues with living here. First, is WADS; they don’t like us. Second, sometimes houses in this area can cost a little bit more than they’re worth. But, this is where the students live. Like me!

Zone Two is about a half an hour walk from campus. It has a lot of apartment buildings, in comparison to Zone One, which is mostly houses. Sadly, that’s all I can really tell you about this area, as it’s on the other side of the 403 and I’m quite unfamiliar with it. Apparently there are a lot of nice coffee shops and eateries.

Zone Three has the area around Hess Village and Jackson Square. Again, here there are a lot of apartments, but there are also duplexes. In this area you are close (very close) to many bus routes, and there is a lot of stuff to do. However you may encounter creepy downtown folk.

Zone Four is located in the Dundas area; near lots up graduate students and faculty. There are lots of parks here, as well as the Dundas Valley Conservation Area. Zone Four actually borders the North-West side of campus, and it takes around half an hour to walk.

From there are Zones five through eight; which apparently have limited housing available for students, as well as limited access to buses. When looking on the map I actually don’t know where these places are. Probably because they’re not all that accessible by bus.

Of course, there are pros and cons to living in all of these places. Some are further away, but could be much cheaper. Some could be closer, but cost a little bit more. Some could be in an exclusively student area, while some may be surrounded by families. Again, a lot of these things have to be talked about with who you’re planning to live with.

So now you know where you can live and some (very brief) pros and cons associated with it. And yet there are still so many things for you to consider.

Off-Campus Housing Part Two: Who to Live With?

"Off-Campus Housing Part Two: Who to Live With?", December 2007

Before you can even begin looking for a place, you need to think about who you are going to live with. You may have had an awesome roommate this year, or you may have had a terrible one. Do you want to live with this person again? Did you have close friends on your floor, or down the hall? Generally, a group of friends looking for a place together is what happens.

At this point, there are two kinds of people I think you should avoid living with when you start looking for your place.

The first are your partying buddies. If all you do with these people is drink, you’re likely to only do that next year. All the boozin’ will not only affect your marks, but it will also affect your wallet. Possibly even your health and well-being. If you don’t see that as being problematic, go ahead, but I know for some people at least it hasn’t been the best idea.

Secondly, I suggest not to live with your significant other. NO HOUSECEST. What if you break up? How awkward and potentially aggravating, and possibly infuriating could that end up being? VERY. What about when they bring over their new partner for the first time. Even more awkward. You’ve got your entire lives to be together (assuming you make it out of university still together [Me? Pessimist? Psh. Noooo. ]). You don’t need to start now.

Now, back to the main focus of this article...Do you want to live with only one other person, or do you want to live with four, or five or more. Typically, if you are going to live in a house, most have rooms for around five people. Some houses go up to eight; it all depends on first who you want to live with before you can even start to look.

Speaking from experience, you should also consider if you are all going to be looking for a place in the same cost range. Some people can afford to pay over $500 a month, some people can’t. Find out if you have some common goals (price, location etc), and go from there.

You also must remember that living in a house with a group of people is difficult. In fact, it can be downright impossible at times. There are a lot of things that need to be discussed, and dealt with, and quite often this can lead to fighting. Sometimes the people you choose to live with ultimately will not work out. From year to year the number of people in your house may change. Just because these people are your friends doesn’t mean it makes it easy to live with them; in fact it can even make it more difficult.

Now, once you’ve figured out who you’re going to live with, you can start actually looking for a place.

Off-Campus Housing Part One: Introduction

"Off-Campus Housing Part One: Introduction", December 2007

It has gotten to be that time of the year again; the house hunt has begun (but slowly...it picks up in term two...). Although you technically have about four months to really figure it out, I suggest you start thinking about it now. I have a myriad of information to throw at you, including what you should look for and what you should avoid. Thus, this article is going to be composed of a few parts. Otherwise it is going to end up being excessively long.

The first thing you want to do is check out McMaster Off-Campus Resource Centre. They are holding an Off-Campus Housing Fair on January 16th. Or, you can either by drop into their office in MUSC B112, or visit their website, http://macoffcampus.mcmaster.ca/. Here you will find everything you need to know about living off-campus. You can also hunt for house listings; either sublets, full-year or short-term.

Seems pretty straight-forward, right? It is, but there are so many things you need to consider, which is why this article is turning into a series. You can either look around by yourself, or you can examine the other parts to this article, which will hopefully answer your questions and lead you in the right direction.

Coming soon: Part 2! Who to Live With?