How to find a house

[crispratt]

Hey everyone, 

I'll be a 1L in the fall and am trying to figure out how to find housing for next year and was wondering if anyone had any advice. I know I want to live with 1-2 other people and definitely in Old North. 

I've been directed to the Off Campus Housing website ran by Western but am not sure if there are any others available/that are helpful. 

Also what about timeline? When did you sign a lease/was there a lot of inventory left?

Thanks in advance!

Edited March 23, 2022 by crispratt

[blackeye]

Hi! I'm a current 4th year at western so maybe I can help.

There is a Facebook paged called UWO - Off-Campus Housing (Unofficial) where many people post lease options. You can also post that you're looking for a place and post your requirements so people can approach you.

Old North is one of the most popular areas due to its proximity to campus. However, it is further from the law building (around a 20 minute walk, half of which is uphill, torturous especially in the winter). Old North houses are more sought after the closer you get to campus so you could be looking at a 30+ minute walk realistically. Busses in London are very unreliable and there isn't one from Old North that goes close to the law building. The bussing system is better on the south side of campus, there are more busses and run more frequently so the unreliability doesn't have that much of an impact. Most leases are, unfortunately, signed mid school year for the next year (especially for Old North) but I think you'll definitely find something soon. You may not get to be too picky though. 

Hope this helps!

[Boozey]

Hey, just to add on here, I'd suggest finding and using a real estate agent if at all possible. For rentals, you aren't required to pay the agents anything, as they receive all their commission from the Landlord of the property you'd be renting. I found it handy to go this route as a student, as I didn't have to use my own time to phone/email back and forth with potential rentals about my lack of income/status as a student, as it was all handled by the agent.

Realtor.ca is a decent source for finding agents/brokerages, but you can also just google search for real estate agents with good reviews in the London area. 

[goosie]

Adding to the above to say that people often post in the Accepted Students FB group to say they're looking for roommates and connect that way. Some law students do live in Old North but mostly people choose to live south of campus, downtown or around Masonville.

Personally I signed my lease in mid-July. I ended up living alone, and by the time I signed the lease there were no bachelors left in my apartment complex, so I ended up having to pay more for a 1 bedroom. I did use the Off Campus Housing website when I was considering living with roommates and as I remember there were still lots of options when I was looking in July, but they went pretty quickly, especially any places that specified no undergrads (which was what I wanted).