How to Find a Suitable Home in College Station

photo and essay by Yasser Alzahrani

Howdy (the common local greeting word) and welcome to College Station. When you arrive in the new city, one of your main concerns is to find a home. Therefore, a couple of ways to look for an appropriate place to live will be provided.

When planning your trip, make sure to book a flight that arrives to the city before the beginning of the semester, at least two weeks early. By doing so, you will find more options and variety of apartments for lease. Arriving late may narrow your choices in finding an affordable rent, a clean living quarter, and a good proximity to the university.

Once you arrive in the city, you may need to stay in a hotel for a couple of days until you find a permanent home. Whether you rent a car or not, it’s better to use technology to help you search for a home. There are many applications on smart phones and many websites you can use in your search. For instance Google Maps is a navigation application which can be simply used by typing “apartments” in the search bar to get a list of many apartments in the city area, and then you can click on each of them to see the working hours, the phone number and the property website. I recommend calling everyone to check the availability, prices, and leasing periods. Then visit their website to look at pictures of their floor plans and the available amenities they have. After this search, you will end with a list of apartments that you will choose from later on.

After prioritizing the listed apartments, you should call the apartments’ offices prior going to take a tour of their property. While taking the tour, the tour guide will take you to a model apartment that simulates other apartments offered for lease, and show you their amenities such as studying rooms, lounge, fitness center, body building gym and swimming pool. These tours will give you the chance to see the property in reality so that you select the most appropriate one.

To conclude, the most critical issue in the movement to another city is the issue of finding a convenient home to live in. Arriving early enough at your destination, and using technology to save you time and money when looking for a home from tens of apartments, as well as taking tours in the most affordable and appropriate apartments you found will hopefully help you find the most suitable home.