We all know this time of year isn’t great. We’ve just had a nice break at home with our families, with loads of presents and sooo much food. Now we’re back to the reality of Uni life with all its ups and downs. Most of us have exams, which we probably didn’t revise for as much as we would’ve liked (blame the Christmas cheer). Looking for a house on top of this seems impossible, but fear not! Check out these handy tips to make January a breeze…
Work out who you want to live as soon as you can
This is often the hardest part of house hunting so working out the kinks and getting a solid group together early will save you so much stress.
Use any free time to discuss what’s important to everyone
Some people may be adamant they want to be a 10-minute walk from campus, whereas others might be super stubborn about having 2 fridges. Having these discussions over a group meal or a drink means everyone can have their voice heard, communication within your group is the key to smooth house hunting season.
Have a firm budget everyone agrees on
This is a tricky one, money can be a sensitive subject, but it’s arguably the most important thing to agree on. Try and do some research early on (i.e. before the late night cramming sessions start) so you have a good general idea of the prices that everyone is willing to pay. Remember to consider what you think is worth paying for, some people would pay extra for a dining table whereas others would pay for an extra bathroom, keeping this in mind while setting a budget will make the process of elimination a lot easier, we promise eventually you will find your perfect home.
Align everyone’s exam timetables in January
This may seem a bit extreme, but if you can work out slots when 2 or 3 of you are free for a day or an afternoon, you’ll make sure no one ends up wandering around looking at houses just before an exam. Organising yourselves well also means that it won’t be left to one person to do ALL your viewings, it’s a lot of pressure for one person and it’s important for everyone to be happy with the house before committing! A great time is just after an exam, for a bit of a break ( and a quick trip to the pub, because you know, you’ve been working so hard recently) before you get your head down for the next one.
Communication
The group chat is your friend even if the notifications do wake you up at ungodly hours every night for a month. If you’ve found a good house make sure you communicate all the key details like price and location and check that everyone’s happy before making any commitments to the landlord. Group chats are a great way to do this so everyone can communicate on the go. Don’t worry, you can turn off those notifications soon, only a few weeks of this madness left!
AAAAAnd relax
Once you’ve signed and sealed your house for next year and your exams are over, you can chill and enjoy the rest of the term without any stress, it’ll be back to hangovers every weekday and “ oh I don’t really need to go to that 9am” (Until that coursework deadline comes around…)
We’ve still got loads of stunning properties available in Leeds, Leicester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Cardiff, Portsmouth and Exeter. If you’d like to book a viewing, or even just have a chat about how to house hunt visit our website now http://bit.ly/2j4csk4
