<p>So DS is a middler at Northeastern U. Wants to move off campus and into a studio apt. next fall. No guaranteed housing for next year anyway and it will probably be the same or a little cheaper than the dorm so no issue there. Seems that lots of kids get ripped off by apt. brokers.
Any of you Bostonians recommend a good, reputable realtor?<br>
Any tips?
He is looking around Westland Ave. or on Park in the Fenway. He is very street smart and a weightlifter so less worry about safety than would be for a daughter…</p>
<p>ebeeeee: you may already be aware of this but there is an off-campus housing page on neu’s web site that your S might want to check out; it lists both rentals and some rental agents:</p>
<p>[Off-Campus</a> Services](<a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/offcampus/]Off-Campus”>Off Campus Engagement and Support | Sites at Northeastern)</p>
<p>thanks I didn’t know that. I had heard about kids getting scammed on craigslist but I wasn’t sure how…didn’t know about the deposit via western union. jeeze.</p>
<p>Rents are going down, he might not want to commit quite yet. Still a new concept to many landlords.</p>
<p>although my daughter is a college grad as of last May, she is living in the Brighton area… very popular with college students. She and her friend found it on craigslist. They literally looked through hundreds of listings before looking at only two apartments. It was my pure parental instinct to tell her, you need to look at many apartments, but I figured the best way she was going to learn, was to get into an apartment, and find out the things she did and didn’t like about it (she never lived off campus in college). They moved in, in December with a lease that goes through the end of August. They are already talking about finding another place (much to my H’s chagrin) due to the ‘ickyness’ factor of the bathroom and kitchen (it is rather gross despite our spending hours upon hours cleaning). I think if they’d looked at more apartments, they might have seen that there are ones out there (perhaps not as big) that they would have liked better. They are also on the third floor, with no elevator of course, with real furniture that they will have to move (she thinks H is going to come back to help her) next time. But the location is good, especially for her as she gave up her car (roommate has one).</p>
<p>Like I said, I think they learned their lesson about not taking the first place they see (saw two apartments in the same complex). And maybe by late July, early August, there will be some deals to be made. Good luck.</p>
<p>You may also want to check the Northeastern Parents forum on My NEU. I believe there were a few posts where parents recommended rental agents based on a previous good experience.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently looking for an apartment…I am not thrilled with the rental agent they have been dealing with , and I think the feeling is mutual. I have called him out ona couple of things , for instance in Boston, there cannot be more than 4 college students legally living in one apartment…his law was passed last March.</p>
<p>I didn’t think it was appropriate for him to be showing 5 bedroom units and suggesting that people do it ( break the law ) all the time…so I asked him if he would assume responsibility for the students in such apartment should they be caught ? Suddenly, we are back to looking at smaller places where you wouldn’t be able to cram more than 4 in…
He is wet behind the ears and fresh out of college himself. The agents make a hefty fee for the rentals in Boston , but I still think they need to work for that money and look after the renters, not just see the commission check in the end.
My other daughter used someone last year ( will have to find out his name and agency ) that truly looked out for their interests…it also helped that one of her roommate’s parents live in the area and her mom helped…and her dad is a Boston cop , so he had the info about safety…the kids usually get so excited about the independance of apartment living as compared to a dorm that they tend to overlook some factors that a more mature person would see</p>
<p>Thanks all. I did get some names from the NEU parent forum and had son call them.
I also suggested that he mentioned that we are very credit worthy and willing to cosign but will be monitoring the process.<br>
He has a couple of friends living off campus and is trying to get into one building in particular that he knows is decent but right now there isn’t anything available.<br>
The realtor from the parent forum did say it was a little early to be looking.
Okay, now that I have you all one more… He wants to live alone in a studio.
I wasn’t thrilled as I love the idea that he has two good friends/roommates who would call me if he didn’t appear for a few days. His father voice the concern to me that it can be very lonely living alone and he didn’t love the idea of him not having roommates.
Anyone been through this and was it okay?<br>
I guess this is a big step for us, which is silly as he has been on his own and across the country for three years.</p>
<p>ebeee,
been there, done that.</p>
<p>Your son wants to live alone, but in a building where he knows other people. Sounds very wise. He can socialize when he wants, but not feel obligated. The neatness of apt., the quality of food, will be under his control. He won’t have to deal with a roommate’s girlfriend practically moving in.</p>
<p>I looked at Craig’s list, rent.com, and some other sites. Your son actually knows the area, and probably get on waiting list at the buildings he likes.</p>
<p>In addition to the rental agent, it is VERY important to have a reliable and dependable property management company or person. In DS’s case, the property management company also did the rentals. When he lived there, they were very responsive re: repairs or other issues (e.g. heat wasn’t working properly) and fixed things very quickly. However, DS tells me that this particular company is not receiving rave reviews any longer.</p>
<p>thumper,good point. I will make sure son pays attention to that. It has been 30 years since I rented an apartment so I had kind of forgotten the rules.
bookworm, thanks for the reassurance…yeah I can understand him wanting to live alone particularly when the one roommate he was planning on will be away first semester and he does not want to deal with a sublet situation or random roommate.</p>
<p>ebeeeee, there were also various checklists, tips and guides that S might want to look at on the NEU website (This thread has now gotten me thinking about this issue too; my S has fall co-ops and was planning to the next one back home but suddenly that is ALL changing! S (who is not so street smart) is now thinking about getting an apartment with gf in the fall and doing his next co-op out there (sigh! They grow up too fast)</p>
<p>Be aware that the weekend you will probably me moving is the weekend that EVERYONE is moving in Boston and it can be absolute chaos. If you need to rent a U-Haul or something like that, don’t wait until the last minute to reserve one. Make sure you know when you can get into the apartment. For the last two Labor Days, I have been assigned the task of sitting outside with the furniture in the yard/sidewalk while waiting to get into the apartment because others are not out because they can’t get into their new place…you get the idea. Furniture sitting outside is fair game, so don’t leave anything unattended. Each time, H and I have gone home and said, “Never again.” The reality is that we know we will be doing it again this fall. Making those memories.</p>
<p>scansmom, not to turn this into an NEU thread but lots of kids had big problems with finding coops this spring. Encourage DS to start early, and be in constant contact with his coop advisor…if he can get he/she to like him that will help too 
Dogwood, thanks for the tips. This is my most independent son who has very little in terms of furnishings and a friend with a car. To give you an idea, the last time he moved dorms, he did the whole thing himself including a 42" TV with a moving cart borrowed from the school.
I’m not sure he will need a UHaul or parental help.</p>
<p>Just posting to say THANK YOU to everyone who PM’d me and posted. DS rented a place this weekend. The upfront costs were ridiculous but he found a good place at a good price.</p>