Finding a place to live can be one of the most challenging and stressful parts of many people's experience, especially in a new country. There are a seemingly endless number of housing options available to you, and in many parts of the country none of them are inexpensive. With careful planning and adequate information, however, you will be able to find a place to live and soon be calling it "home."
How to Begin Looking
As is generally true throughout the world, the farther you are from any urban center, the lower the rent will be. However, transportation may be so overcrowded and expensive that you will have to balance these two factors in deciding where to seek housing. Naturally, it is easier to take part in the life of a city if you live within its boundaries. For this reason single people and couples without children often prefer to live as close to the city as possible. However, families with children are generally attracted to the suburbs, where they can find larger houses at lower rents, better schools, and a slower pace — not to mention grass and trees!
If your children are of school age, the quality of local schools should be of primary concern before you decide where to rent. Many families have found that in the end it was less costly to move to a fairly expensive suburb with good public schools rather than to a less expensive neighborhood where inadequate or crowded public schools lead them to send their children to costly private schools. If there are several children in your family, this is a particularly important consideration. See Chapter 19 for a discussion of schools.
Once the school question has been explored, commuting conditions should be investigated — train or bus schedules, highways, available types of transportation, commuting time.
Your employer or foreign-student adviser should be able to give you helpful advice about schools and commuter schedules in suburban areas. You will be able to judge a good deal for yourself by driving through a number of neighborhoods. Talk to the local librarian, a salesperson, or a gas station attendant; investigate neighborhoods or suburbs as thoroughly as possible before you actually select one.
If you are moving to a medium-sized (about 500,000 population) or small city (about 100,000 population) or to a small town, the housing situation will be quite different from that in large metropolitan areas. Neighborhoods within these cities may be as spacious as those in the suburbs, although houses will sometimes be older. Public transportation, however, is frequently limited in smaller cities.
Sources of Information
Your best source of information about either houses or apartments is likely to be the local newspaper. As a rule the week's most complete real estate section appears in the Sunday edition of city newspapers. Try to get a copy on Saturday! Usually the real estate section is printed early. Timing is important, as there is often tremendous competition for housing. You need to read the columns carefully the night before so that on Sunday morning you can telephone early (even at 8 a.m.) about rentals that seem interesting to you.
There are real estate agents in all localities, and many of them handle rentals. These can be helpful, but if you can find a house yourself through friends, the newspaper, or by seeing a "For Rent" sign, it will be cheaper. Agents charge steep fees — a month's rent is common, but so is one-half month's rent. Depending on the rental market, the landlord may pay this fee or split it with you. Some companies pay such fees for their employees; others do not. Be certain you understand your company's policy regarding this matter, and inquire about fees before you sign with any real estate agency.
Even Americans are confused by the terms used in real estate advertisements. A tiny hallway, an alcove off the kitchen, or an "L" in the living room may be called a room. Sometimes kitchens and bathrooms are counted as rooms, and sometimes they are not. When you see "2-1/2 rooms" listed, you cannot be certain what this means. Neither can Americans! The only safe thing to do is to ask when you telephone: how many rooms are included in the apartment, and what size are they? Apartments are more expensive as you go higher in a building, unless there is no elevator. You are paying for more light and less dirt and noise from the street and sometimes for a better view. Listings are often described in terms of square feet. Simply divide by three to get a rough estimate of the size in square meters.
Labels: home, house, housing, Information, Sources
As humorist Garrison Keillor once observed, there are still small towns in the U.S. where some people not only refuse to lock their doors, they forget where they put their keys years ago! Nevertheless, locks only work if you use them. Never leave the door to your house, hotel, or apartment unlocked; be careful not to leave a key in the door by mistake, even for a short time. Also, don't leave your door open, ajar, or unlocked, even if you are just going out to empty the trash or talk with a neighbor. It is a good precaution to use the inside chain on the door, especially at night. Most hotels, apartments, and homes are now equipped with dead-bolt locks in addition to the regular locks on the doorknobs.
Most city apartments have peepholes through which you can see who is at your door before you open it. Others have TV systems in the front lobby or some voice identification arrangement. Use whatever system is provided; it is there for your protection. If you live on the ground floor or face a fire escape and are worried about your windows, talk to the superintendent about window locks or security screens. Don't open a door unless you know who is there. Don't admit a salesperson, repairman, or delivery person unless you know or are expecting the person. Many service people carry an identification card issued to them by their companies. Ask to see it.
None of this is meant to frighten you, but it is common sense. If you use the various safeguards that exist, then you can feel secure, relaxed, and protected. If you do not, you are taking a chance almost anywhere nowadays.
If you lock yourself out of your apartment by mistake, the superintendent can let you in again with a master key kept for such emergencies. Some people also leave a spare key with a trusted neighbor for just such moments of need. In most large cities there are locksmiths available on 24hour duty. Look under "Locksmiths" in the Yellow Pages. They can be lifesavers if, for example, you break off the key in your car lock by mistake.