Living in Kamloops

[User456]

I was accepted back in December and have paid my deposit while I wait for other schools. I started joining rental groups about a year ago to see how difficult it would be to find a rental. The answer: very. 

I was connected with current TRU students and they said a lot of the graduating class "pass down" their apartments to incoming 1L's like some weird ritual because it's so difficult to find a decent place to live. 

Current students, is it as difficult to find a place as it looks? I would be coming from out of province and one of my biggest deterrents (aside from cost of tuition) is cost and scarcity of housing. 

I have heard great things about the faculty, but at this point I can't imagine paying $2,000/month for an old basement suit and over 22k for tuition. I assume it will just get more difficult to find a place the closer you get to September. 

I should add I have pets, which I know makes it more difficult but they are obviously not something I would compromise on. 

[Tnw27]

I am in the same boat as you. My husband and I really want to make our life in B.C., and going to TRU law just seems like the perfect opportunity to do that. But, I have also been accepted into the U of C, and currently live in Calgary too. The housing is the major thing holding me back from deciding on TRU. We have a small detached house we pay $1200.00 with a huge back yard my dog loves, and is a 5 min bus ride to the uni. I just can't quite bring myself to give all that up to go live in some run down condo for $1800 a month in Kamloops. 

Does the market get any better in the summer? What is the best way to find a rental in Kamloops? 

[Abc321]

I'm not a current student (I was deferred last year), but I've been stressing about the housing situation in Kamloops since last spring. I think because it is early enough it should be possible to find something decent before September--from memory, I think more places open up after the semester ends and there's some movement. Seems like there are newer condos that accept pets, if you get on all the waitlists something should open up before fall. 

But yeah, the housing situation is bad enough that it is feeling impossible for me right now. I'm a mature student, so we are a family of four plus my entire ZOO of 5 pets 🤦‍♀️ we own our house here in Alberta and our mortgage for our 3-year-old house backing onto a lake is half what it would cost to rent a full house in Kamloops (most are divided into upper and lower suites and are still $2800/month, plus my zoo is typically a dealbreaker).

Rent is so terrible in Kamloops I've been looking at buying a place instead. It would be cheaper in the long run to buy/sell than it would be to rent. But the mortgage approval is incredibly stressful because my husband would need to stay in his current job until he finds something in Kamloops, so we would be living in one place and he would be.. living in the camper in Calgary? I don't know.

It's a mess. And I'm just in limbo right now and can't really plan anything, because I am waiting to hear back from U of C.

U of C for me means graduating debt-free, in a city where my husband already has a well-paying job, and we wouldn't necessarily need to move (because I could commute in to Calgary from where we live). I'm really done with Alberta and fed up with the current government, but debt-free law school would be huge. Though I guess if U of C doesn't accept me, there's not much I can do anyway!

^^I'm sorry, this turned into a rant. My frustration is OOZING OUT. 😆 

 

--Housing in Kamloops sucks. If you can be flexible you should be able to find something. Good luck!

[HarryCrane]

Current student, housing is tough but it’s manageable. There are some new builds that are being finished which will hopefully alleviate some of the housing stress. 
 

There will be some movement mid year as people move after the semester. I would start looking around May/June for housing. Typically law students can be found at McGill Ridge, Summit, or Landmark place. 
 

As others mentioned there’s some more secretive housing that law students pass on to others, you’ll see more of that once you are added to the Facebook group in June. 

[Lawyerup36]

I agree with all of you, I live in Alberta but was more than willing to go to Kamloops, however even without a decision yet I’ve looking at rentals and it appears very limited and quite costly. I have applied to both U of A and U of C as well, either are a much easier move for me and cost effective but if I only get into TRU hypothetically, living may become a huge issue. 

[User456]

12 hours ago, Tnw27 said:

I am in the same boat as you. My husband and I really want to make our life in B.C., and going to TRU law just seems like the perfect opportunity to do that. But, I have also been accepted into the U of C, and currently live in Calgary too. The housing is the major thing holding me back from deciding on TRU. We have a small detached house we pay $1200.00 with a huge back yard my dog loves, and is a 5 min bus ride to the uni. I just can't quite bring myself to give all that up to go live in some run down condo for $1800 a month in Kamloops. 

Does the market get any better in the summer? What is the best way to find a rental in Kamloops? 

I would assume it gets "better" with people leaving, but for every person who leaves i'm sure there's one, if not multiple people moving there. The hardest part with that is the individuals moving, will be moving in May ish, and I am not prepared to quit my job early, have all my living situation here taken care of and potentially still not have heard from other schools just to secure an apartment and move 4 months before the school year. That's got to be a tough decision if that's where you'd like to end up. I will say though, that going somewhere other than BC won't really hurt your chances of being there long term, but it will make 1L recruit and job interviews more difficult. 

I have been on their rental  and pet friendly rental facebook pages for about a year now. I have also used facebook market place and all of the other rental platforms as well as the individual buildings websites. I made a post to see what the market was like on their fb pages and received a grim response. Although people obviously make it work, just not sure how. 

1 hour ago, Abc321 said:

I'm not a current student (I was deferred last year), but I've been stressing about the housing situation in Kamloops since last spring. I think because it is early enough it should be possible to find something decent before September--from memory, I think more places open up after the semester ends and there's some movement. Seems like there are newer condos that accept pets, if you get on all the waitlists something should open up before fall. 

But yeah, the housing situation is bad enough that it is feeling impossible for me right now. I'm a mature student, so we are a family of four plus my entire ZOO of 5 pets 🤦‍♀️ we own our house here in Alberta and our mortgage for our 3-year-old house backing onto a lake is half what it would cost to rent a full house in Kamloops (most are divided into upper and lower suites and are still $2800/month, plus my zoo is typically a dealbreaker).

Rent is so terrible in Kamloops I've been looking at buying a place instead. It would be cheaper in the long run to buy/sell than it would be to rent. But the mortgage approval is incredibly stressful because my husband would need to stay in his current job until he finds something in Kamloops, so we would be living in one place and he would be.. living in the camper in Calgary? I don't know.

It's a mess. And I'm just in limbo right now and can't really plan anything, because I am waiting to hear back from U of C.

U of C for me means graduating debt-free, in a city where my husband already has a well-paying job, and we wouldn't necessarily need to move (because I could commute in to Calgary from where we live). I'm really done with Alberta and fed up with the current government, but debt-free law school would be huge. Though I guess if U of C doesn't accept me, there's not much I can do anyway!

^^I'm sorry, this turned into a rant. My frustration is OOZING OUT. 😆 

 

--Housing in Kamloops sucks. If you can be flexible you should be able to find something. Good luck!

Yeah, I have a house too that as been for sale for 6 months. it's in another city than i'm in and being a landlord is awful, can't imagine doing it from another province. I would say if this were me, and those were my options, I would be going to U of C lol. I am still waiting on both Alberta schools.

Not being able to plan anything is the worst part of this wait for me. i'm afraid I will hear too late and won't be able to go. 

51 minutes ago, Lawyerup36 said:

I agree with all of you, I live in Alberta but was more than willing to go to Kamloops, however even without a decision yet I’ve looking at rentals and it appears very limited and quite costly. I have applied to both U of A and U of C as well, either are a much easier move for me and cost effective but if I only get into TRU hypothetically, living may become a huge issue. 

I am still waiting on both as well, the wait is paralyzing. I am only in TRU so far as well and will need to decide if I apply again next cycle and hope for a local school, or go. I can't make that decision until I hear though, and who knows when that will be.