housing around uni?

[scribble]

Anyone have tips for house hunting? I'm desperate to move out of my current apartment but this is the first place I've rented so i'm pretty inexperienced with looking for accommodation. I've mostly been looking at studios but I'm on a fairly tight budget so it's pretty hard. I've found a couple of unfurnished studios around lygon/queensberry street for about $220p/w which were fairly run down but didn't look too bad, but then again everything looks spacious when there's no furniture so i don't know. :\ I also found quite a few ads for studio apartments around Barry and Leicester street for about $250 which were a lot newer and nicer, but they seem to be pretty small as well. D': imean, i don't need tons and tons of space, i just want enough room for a desk and a bed and a little bit of storage. And then there's the whole unilodge student accommodation type stuff. They seem to have 6 month leases that are reasonably priced at the moment, but I'm not sure what to think about the shared facilities. Do they actually stay clean? because the kitchen/bathroom i share at the moment is disgusting all the time, always. Pretty sure its the source of 99% of all my grief. ; n ;
but yeah, so much confusion, so much inexperience. XD heelp? D:
also I was wondering anyone knows if prices will drop a little over the next few weeks as uni finishes and students start moving back home? when's the best time to sign a lease? i would've thought things would be cheapest now, but looking around everything seems to be around the same price as when i looked last february. D': i'm too poor for thisssss, this is so hard. D':

[LeviLamp]

If your grades are good you can apply for an equity+academic scholarship to some of the residential colleges and cross your fingers. It's not a massive chance but it's one large enough to think about trying; some colleges (like the one I'm at) have a relatively low student application rate, and almost everyone here who needs it gets at least some financial help; if you can prove your case you can get about 10k a year paid towards the fees, but if you get substantially less it may be more expensive than a unit/apartment/room elsewhere even after factoring in additional food and utility costs etc.
Otherwise I've heard UniLodge is perfectly fine but you feel very isolated from your neighbours most of the time, and I'd bet the bathrooms are unpleasant :V
Places on Queensberry or Lygon are sometimes really bad and sometimes really good (from what I've heard) but if you find one you like it's in a very good location (next to SO MUCH FOOD) and 11,400 per year is fairly reasonable payment?
Obviously I have no idea about price changes or leases.

[scribble]

HAHAHAHAHAHA GOOD GRADES NOPE. thats not happening.
plus isn't college still ridiculously expensive, even after bursaries? i have a friend who's got a 50% scholarship at a college and it's still like, $350 a week. Q__Q i'd struggle to pull out $700 a fortnight and that would be assuming that I don't need to be spending money on anything else which isn't really possible. D:
and don't colleges kick you out during the breaks as well? o.O i need somewhere to stay for the full year/for the rest of my degree D:
XP yeah, the idea of sharing a bathroom with an entire floor of people is kind of off putting to me. D: im just thinking, imean if its going to be $220 a week at unilodge, i may as well pay a tad more and get my own bathroom and kitchenette. :\ unless unilodge is actually nice. :S
mm i was looking at stuff like this.  http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Rent/Apartment-Unit-Flat/VIC/Carlton/?adid=8680282  it looks like a cutesy little place and i could totally see myself living there. but then again, i said the same thing before i moved into this flat, and now i hate it. Q__Q i just dont want to sign a 12 month lease and then decide three months in that theres not enough space for anything. XD maybe i should sit down and actually draw out a plan and calculate how much space i actually need o____O

[LeviLamp]

Haha I walk past that place twice a day on my way to and from uni but I've never looked inside it. I've heard those places are quite cozy and not often disrupted, but I don't think they have stacks and stacks of room (just going off the house-hunting escapades of other people and former residents here). Still, it's pretty affordable and in a very good location It's literally one minute to walk from there to Il Dolce Freddo (best gelato). If I was house-hunting as a uni student I'd probably snap that place up in a flash.

EDIT: Yes, it's pretty expensive (I have to pay 12,500 for the academic year after the scholarship) but your own personal costs are drastically, drastically reduced; I almost never spend money on things aside from textbooks and additional food/snacks and just save it all up to pay for college, since I have good Internet, utilities, three meals a day etc. included in the cost and don't have to use public transport. They do kick you out over breaks, though you can pay to stay during the breaks (40ish dollars per night (varies from college to college) though you can usually organise jobs/labour etc. to lower the cost if you're in need). It's definitely not the sort of thing you'd want to bank on, but it seems like not a terrible idea to apply on the off chance a place will have you and is able to cater to your financial needs, since it would make all not-money-related aspects of life quite a lot easier. I also find that, at least where I live (can't vouch for the other places which are very different in this regard) the principal is more interested in keeping students that need homes to stay and will negotiate financial issues and other problems with them and suggest alternate housing arrangements (our principal had to make someone leave but found them a really cheap place somewhere in the city, which sounds impossible to me).

[hobbitle]

Why don't you share house ie get some
flat mates? I live by myself in a studio right now but it's a pretty spoiled way to live as a student and I'm moving in with some friends next year to make it cheaper. You also get heaps more space if you sharehouse. I will admit that I don't love it though, so I understand if you hate the idea, I like my own space - but halving my rent when a student makes it worth it.
I also am moving into a sharehouse because I can't study in my studio with my bed right there, I keep getting sleepy and having naps! But I just go into Uni.
Anyway back to the point. You won't get anywhere decent in the CBD for less than $250, there isn't really like some real estate secret where there is good + cheap in the CBD. It's just how it is. If somewhere cheaper than the rest it usually sucks. Pay $300 and it's nice. You could look at moving a bit further out, to north Carlton maybe, Richmond, southbank? Somewhere near St Kilda rd and you are a right near the tram that takes you up Swanston St? Anyway just some suggestions.
There are various apartment blocks in the upper end of the CBD (around Vic Markets), that are sometimes 2 bedroom, really nice, and work out to be like $230 each. You find them on domain.com.au you just have to look at the address. Your rent goes down a lot if you just pair up with someone - you don't need to live in a 5 person frat house!

[scribble]

most of my friends arent planning to move out of home, and the ones who have are living at college/in family owned property so share housing with friends is pretty hard. :\

at the moment im actually in one of those little apartments near the vic market you were talking about. the place itself is really nice and i don't mind the sharing aspect too much, its just i need more space. at the moment we have three people in a one bedroom apartment. im in the study and theres another in a partitioned section of the living room and there no storage space or a study desk or anything. its really just wayy too small for three people.
the good thing about that place im at now though is that i'm only renting a single bedroom and not the whole apartment. so if the place is half empty for a couple of weeks, its my lease owner who foots the cost, not me. i'd love to lease a two bedroom with someone, but im worried that i wont be able to find someone who wants to move in right away and stay for the entire lease. cause i wouldnt be able to afford paying an extra $200 for every week where i cant find a person to stay with me. :\ if it wasnt that insecurity, id rent out a two bedroom in an instant. there are some absolutely gorgeous, fully furnished ones for only $400 a week D:

[hobbitle]

wow sorry yeah I assumed you were already in a studio - 3 people in a 1 bedroom? that suuuuucks.

my instinct is that you would have very little trouble finding a stranger (probably another uni student) to fill a second bedroom in a two bedroom place.  especially once the new year hits and there are thousands of interstate students trying to find somewhere to live when they move to Melbourne. 

[simpak]

Hahaha you can move into my boyfs old house, they're looking for flatmates to replace him! It's 706 PCM with utilities plus 18 dollars a month for unlimited Internet. Otherwise have a look around in seedy places like gumtree! Seriously though if you're interested in that let me know because I can give you the deets, it's like 15 min tram ride from uni though!

[scribble]

yeah its pretty bad rofl.
yeahhh. but if i take out a one year lease and they want to leave in november after exams, im kind of screwed. D: and i imagine finding a flatmate around this time of year is pretty hard too D:

LOL legit? 15 minutes which direction? i probably would prefer to live closer in though.

ive got a few inspections lined up for the next few days, so hopefully something good will come out of them. :'D

[simpak]

Haha scribble it's off Sydney Rd so North direction towards Coburg...fair enough if you want to live closer though!  It seems really close to me because I've been travelling 1.5 hours to and from uni up until now haha.
Good luck with the search

[scribble]

my tenancy application just got approved. I'm moving to lygon!!!! fauydgshfksdjfd #excitement
now to hunt for cheap furniture :'D

[Turtle]

my tenancy application just got approved. I'm moving to lygon!!!! fauydgshfksdjfd #excitement
now to hunt for cheap furniture :'D

All I can say is...I hope you have a budget on food! Because I think I'd go broke living in Lygon St with all the food! Not to mention I'd probably become obese too 

[scribble]

HAHAHAHAHA i know right. all those icecream shops, i legit can't say no!
obesity is inevitable, living that close to uni and that close to food. :'D

[LeviLamp]

IT'S SO BAD
WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE TO WALK PAST KOKO BLACK AND IL DOLCE FREDDO TWICE A DAY

But the budget management is fairly easy, since the restaurant spruikers are really annoying and most of the restaurants are too crowded at dinner time :< I've been to eat out five times all year on Lygon St.
One thing, scribble, the supermarket at Lygon Court is really bad, go to QV instead or you probably won't ever eat vegetables again.

[scribble]

oh god ill be on the corner of queensberry so il dolce freddo will almost be at my doorstep. //cries

XD will keep that in mind. can't imagine myself ever giving up on vegetables though.
is the produce at iga any good? its literally under my building so life would be a ton easier if i can get everything from there. though i'll still need to be making my weekly trips to the asain grocer on elizabeth street.