Tag Archives: Housing

How to search for housing

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By Mara Tu, Urban & Environmental Policy and Planning MA Candidate

New city, new people, new neighborhoods, where do I live! 

Looking for housing felt like a huge task to me. I was moving to a new state, a new city, and I hadn’t looked for housing by myself before. The sheer amount of housing options felt as threatening and overwhelming as an oncoming New England hurricane each time I even attempted to start looking. However, after going through the experience of finding housing in a pricey, fast-paced market like Boston, I now feel much more confident and capable in finding housing in the future!

A quick note: My journey to find housing near Tufts was rather unconventional and honestly not recommended, so if you are looking for a helpful guideline and steps on how to find housing, feel free to skip this next section and scroll down to my suggestion on steps to finding housing near Tufts’ campus.

The summer before my first semester started, I had already secured one roommate through a mutual friend who also wanted to live in the Somerville area. After feeling each other’s “vibes” out and confirming that we wanted to live together, we discussed our checklist for a place to live: budget (less than $1000/month per person), aesthetic (good sunlight was a must!), transportation situation (neither of us had a car so parking was unnecessary but we did want to be near a T stop), preferred relationship with the landlord (we wanted to be communicative with our landlord and to be able to actually contact them directly/not a big landlord), pet situation (neither of us had pets but we hope to get a cat someday down the line!), and other must-haves. This was important and so helpful to have some guidelines to narrow down our search for housing. 

A month before moving to Boston, I had scheduled a day where I would drive up to Boston and tour as many places as I could. After hustling and emailing landlords/real estate agents through Zillow (no shame, I contacted at least 20 different people to schedule a showing- many did not reply), I filled up my day with 7 different viewing tours. Looking back, I recognize now that my roommate and I are much pickier than I’d originally thought, as none of those 7 places really excited us/felt like they were worth the rent. We, thus, entered September with no secured housing.

My roommate couldn’t move in until a month into the semester, so I had decided to crash with my sister’s ex for a month (don’t worry, they are still on good terms and have a wonderful relationship) while I continued to search for housing with an October 1st lease start date. I honestly don’t recommend this, since living temporarily with a friend threw me off in the beginning of the semester more than I had anticipated.

Yet, with a stroke of luck, I was able to get in contact with a real estate agent (a Tufts alum!) who was kind enough to show me about 10 listings within the span of 2 hours that included wonderful properties below our budget even (big shout-out to Maven Realty!). Within a few days, my roommate and I discussed the options, decided on a wonderful 3-bedroom home right in Davis Square at $875/person, and were able to sign the lease with a delightful third roommate. It felt like the wait was worth it and everything was meant to be when I found out that my landlord was, in fact, an alum of my program! 

Tips on Searching for Housing as a Tufts Graduate Student

Before looking for housing, it was helpful to get some context in knowing what situations other students were living in. The following website/social media groups were really helpful to find housing options, possible roommates, and open housing listings:

Suggested steps on how to find housing as a grad student at Tufts:

  1. Criteria: Figure out your criteria for housing. Consider things like budget, location, if utilities are included, types of utilities, apartment/bedroom size, if pets are allowed, parking, in-unit laundry, if broker’s fee is on landlord or tenant, aesthetics, kitchen appliances, number of rooms, etc. 
  2. Roommates: If you already have roommate(s) in mind, great! Make sure you’re a good fit and have clear communication on the housing you are looking for. If you‘re looking for roommates, you can either visit one of the listed pages above and look for people posting about an open room to see if you are compatible or you might want to look for housing first and be the one making a posting on one of those pages to pick and fill in your future housemate(s)!
  3. Search: With your criteria in mind, the internet is your oyster! Go ahead and get searching for housing through the abundant real estate websites/resources. A neat and very helpful tool I found was the Zillow Draw tool that allows you to “draw” a shape on the map of the geographical area you are looking in and save that search so that any time there is a new rental listing in your search area and in your search criteria, you can get immediate (or daily) emails about them. You can also potentially work with a specific realtor/real estate office if you want to make the process a little easier on yourself, so that they can use their database to connect you with properties that uniquely fit your criteria. If you are lucky, some landlords will pay for the broker’s fee, so you can ask your agent for landlord-covered broker’s fee properties only if you want to avoid paying an extra fee!
  4. Touring: I personally really like seeing spaces in person, so feel free to book a tour to places you feel are a good fit/are interested in. You might even look at places at different locations or budgets if you are flexible about those things to see what different properties look like when you give a little in certain criteria. The Boston rental market moves quickly, so if you find somewhere that feels right, I’d say go for it!
  5. Lease: When you have found the right living situation, make sure to go over the lease and even have a second pair of eyes go over it to make sure your needs/expectations from the landlord are met and that you are ok with the landlord’s requirements. When everything is all set, send over your deposit/rent, sign your lease, and get ready to move into your new home!!

Extra Tips:

  • Find out about the communication style/effort/basic background of the landlord. It is totally ok to ask the realtors about this. A bad landlord situation is no good!! If the landlord gets to know all this information about you, you have the right to know about them as well. 
  • You will likely not find the perfect housing if you have budget constraints and that is ok! You might need to make a few compromises to match your budget.
  • The more roommates you have, the cheaper your housing likely can get. 
  • If your other roommates can’t make an in-person tour, take videos for them.
  • If it doesn’t seem like too competitive of a property, you can negotiate! You might be able to get the landlord to pay half of or even the whole broker’s fee to bring down the cost a little.
  • After moving in, I highly recommend joining different Facebook community groups like the Everything is Free Somerville or Curb Alert Page for cheap or even free furniture! The Facebook Marketplace site is also incredibly helpful.

Home Sweet Home: A Guide to Graduate Student Housing

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Written by Ruaidhri Crofton, History & Museum Studies M.A. 2020

So you’ve been accepted to a graduate program at Tufts and you just can’t wait for your new adventure to begin! You’re starting to make travel plans and maybe even connecting with some of your future professors and classmates. Everything seems to be coming together, but you still have to figure out one of the more frustrating aspects of becoming a graduate student: housing. 

As cheesy as it may sound, Tufts will not only become the place you go to school. For many students who aren’t from the region, the Boston area will also become your “home” for the next several years. With so many things to consider when looking for housing, the process of house hunting can quickly become overwhelming. As someone who has already been through the process of finding a place to live while attending Tufts (and is getting ready to do it again for the upcoming school year), here are a few tips and tricks I have for making your housing search as straightforward as possible. 

1. Consider On-Campus Housing

The first thing to consider when searching for housing is the fact that Tufts does provide a limited number of rooms for graduate students on the Medford/Somerville campus. This is a great option, particularly for incoming first-years, as it eliminates many of the more difficult parts of finding a place to live. Because this housing is managed by the university, you won’t have to worry about finding available properties, contacting landlords, locating roommates, or buying furniture. You also won’t have to be concerned about not being able to view the room before you arrive. However, applicants for on-campus housing are selected via a lottery system so keeping other options in mind as a backup if you aren’t selected is wise. More information can be found on the Office of Residential Life website.

2. Do Some Online Searching

Luckily, the days of searching through crowded bulletin boards or looking for “For Rent” signs in windows is over as there are now a seemingly endless number of websites and resources available to students searching for off-campus housing. However, starting to search these sites for available rooms as soon as possible is ideal. Tufts offers a fantastic off-campus housing website for students to search for apartment listings and roommates in the Boston and Somerville/Medford areas. Other third-party platforms can also be helpful in finding good housing accommodations. I have found Jump Off Campus to be one of the more helpful sites for housing searches. Social media pages, such as the “Tufts University Housing, Sublets & Roommates” Facebook group, are also good places to find good housing opportunities both near campus and beyond. 

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Expand Your Search 

Though living right across the street from campus and being able to roll out of bed right before class is nice in many respects, available housing options may not always be so convenient. Due to the number of rental properties immediately adjacent to the Tufts campuses and the fact that rent prices tend to be higher the closer you get to the school, you might want to consider expanding your search area to find better/more affordable alternatives. Looking in communities slightly further from Tufts may get you more “bang for your buck”. Utilizing public transportation can also make the distance less inconvenient and even give you a good excuse to get some extra exercise on your way to class!

4. Networking Works!

Many graduate students elect to live in shared accommodations with several other Tufts students. Not only does this often make housing more affordable by splitting the cost of rent and utilities between several tenants, it also provides you with a great opportunity to meet new people in your first year! If you happen to already know students currently enrolled at the university or who will be starting at the same time as you, chatting with them about the possibility of living together could make finding roommates less difficult/awkward. At the same time, connecting with students using social media or Tufts platforms is another way to find others who might be looking for prospective roommates and housing. Depending on your department, there may also be a way for you to connect with other students in your field. Though it certainly may feel odd at first, I can personally attest to meeting some great friends this way. 

5. Know Your Budget and Your Preferences

With so many things to consider with housing, it’s easy to get overwhelmed! Before you get started looking for housing, make sure to identify what you are looking for in a prospective housing accommodation. Things like setting a budget and identifying preferences such as number of roommates, location, whether or not furniture is provided, etc. will be important to streamlining your search. Though it is unlikely to happen to you, it is also important to be aware of the potential for housing scams. Taking steps like viewing an apartment before signing a lease and knowing your rights as a tenant are important for having a pleasant experience in your new home. More information can be found on the Off-Campus Housing resources page.

Moving to Tufts

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Written by Michelle Connor, Music M.A. 2017

      Bucket List Item: Attend Graduate School in or near Boston. Fall 2015: Check!
      Ever since high school, I dreamed of moving to Boston as an undergraduate student. Unfortunately, many people told me that I would not be able to afford the cost of living and that I would be better off moving to another region in the United States. Taking advice, I listened to them and did not apply to any universities in my dream city. Instead, I attended a university in the south of Ohio but every so often fantasized of my time in Boston. After four and a half years of undergraduate study and two degrees under my belt, I was determined to make it happen. When it came time to apply for graduate school, I applied to Tufts and two other schools, and all of them were in the Boston area. Once again, I was reminded that I would not be able to afford or manage the Boston housing market as turnover is very quick and I would be navigating the tricky market from a distance. But I got into Tufts, and look where I am!

First off, if you are considering applying to Tufts, but you are concerned about the housing market – do it anyway. Tufts is located outside of Boston, in Somerville/Medford. You’ll make it work if you really want to be here! And sure, you may find it a little stressful and realize that you need to put some time in to figuring out the resources as well as the options, but it’ll all be okay. I started looking with some other students in March and secured a place by May. It didn’t happen overnight, but it all happened. Where do I begin? Let me guide you through the Boston area housing market with some advice:

1. Connect with your department and see if there is any ongoing communication regarding housing among current graduate students as well as prospective graduate students.

2. Use the University resources. Tufts’ Office of Residential life has information for Off-Campus Housing! They have even done most of your research for you and can give you access to a list of available housing.

3. When you’re admitted, the Office of Graduate Admissions will provide access to a forum as well as a Shared Wiki. Here you can discuss with other Tufts graduate students, also looking for roommates, about the housing availability near Medford. I found two roommates from the Biology department through this forum, who ended up being some of my closest friends at Tufts! One of them is from Montana and the other one is from Virginia. We both cracked the housing market together and found a three bedroom on a street near the Tufts’ gym for only $2,100 a month! This is the most ideal situation, as you want to live close to campus where the majority of Tufts students are located! Otherwise, you might have to drive/walk/take the T to campus in this:
4. Another option is searching through Craigslist. I know what you are thinking, but you’re intelligent and you’ll be able to tell the difference between a scam and a real listing! You may also stumble upon other Tufts graduate students also searching for housing which is how I met one of my friends from the history department. Although we couldn’t get ourselves together for a housing option, she understood and we continued to be friends throughout graduate school. And we still joke to this day about how we met.

5. Be prepared to have at least the first month’s rent, a security deposit (one month’s rent), and the Boston broker’s fee (one month’s rent). Some places even require last month’s rent. In other words, if you are looking to rent a room for $700, be prepared to have $2,800 and celebrate if you aren’t required to pay the broker’s fee. When thinking about the broker’s fee, consider it as part as your monthly rent. If your rent and broker’s fee are both $700, divide $700 by 12 months and consider it an extra $59 as part of your monthly rent that you must pay upfront.

6. I highly recommend looking for two other roommates from Tufts, so that you are on the same schedule for leasing an apartment. The housing market isn’t so bad. There is constant turnover and if you start looking in April and feel a little worried about finding a September 1st lease, there are always options for an August 1st Moreover, sometimes there are more options for August 1st than September 1st. And who wouldn’t want to have a month to themselves, exploring Boston sights such as these…

Copley Square, in front of the Boston Public Library

Skyline view from East Boston

One of my favorite places: Boston Public Garden

You won’t regret moving to Boston. You’ll see the beauty and charm of the city, convenience of the public transportation, learning opportunities at cultural centers, and the affordability of a city frequently travelled. Sure, you may have stressful days during the search but you’ll see – you will find a place that you are able to afford too!