If you are attending CUA Law in the Fall of 2007 and have not found housing, you need to be investing a lot of energy into the search if you plan on moving at the beginning of August. Furthermore, if you’re looking to move right before Orientation on August 13th, your search should also be in full swing. Being almost half way through July, there will be many young people searching for DC area housing right now. Moreover, a lot of the July 1st vacating notices, which relinquish the apartment on August 1st, will already be taken by new tenants.
If you’re easily able to visit the area, Washington DC’s Craigslist is a good source. But as you may know, apartment searching on Craigslist is like speed-dating….you have to know what you’re looking for and not looking for, get to the point quickly when getting info on the place and be ready to pounce when a desirable apartment is available or risk losing it forever. So research properties quickly for location and safety. Also, check back to the website often and don’t get stuck on just one or two properties unless you’ve checked with the landlord/manager and know they’re still available.
Waitlists for large apartment buildings is also common. If you get on a waitlist, press the management office about how their specific waitlist works and how many people they take off the waitlist every month, as well as how many they’ve already taken off it this month, so you can form an idea of how certain the prospect is. With any waitlist though, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Wait-listing at a property may backfire simply because the number of expected relinquishments does not pan out. So keep up your search while you wait.
Finally, if you’re running into a brick wall, you may consider a short term lease or a sublet. The drawback of this option is that your shorter term lease may end at a time of the year when your academic work is in high gear. Adding a move on top of your first year class load is a stressor most people want to avoid. Making certain the lease coincides with a holiday or breaks is optimal.
Don’t give up hope. There are still plenty of living options available in the DC area….it may just take a little extra time and effort to find them. And as always, feel free to phone or email me when you need help and sign up for your incoming class Facebook group for some extra moral support!
