Moving To New City for School Forum

(Where, When and What Did You Think)
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readyfortheworld

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Moving To New City for School

Post by readyfortheworld » Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:17 pm

I was not sure where to put this post so sorry if this is the wrong place.

My question: when/how do people go about moving to their law school's city? I will be moving from the mid-west to California for law school in Fall '19 (with my partner). I am working full time now, but I am not sure what the usual pattern is here for 0L/1Ls. Do you move in after you get scholly/loan money? Do you move in during the summer using money saved? When does the school disperse money, anyway?? Do you all live off campus? What if the school offers on-campus housing for aw students?

Any help on this would be appreciated! I wont have any family in the area so I am trying to get ahead of this so I am not homeless come August'19.

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cavalier1138

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Re: Moving To New City for School

Post by cavalier1138 » Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:27 pm

Schools tend to disperse loans right around the start of the semester, so plan your finances/schedule around that. You will not be able to count on having loans dispersed in time to cover off-campus housing expenses.

As to the other questions: it's all school-specific. Some schools have great on-campus housing. Some schools have lousy options for couples/families. You'll need to do the regular research you would do before moving to any city; just include looking into your school's on-campus housing situation in addition to the rental market.

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HillandHollow

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Re: Moving To New City for School

Post by HillandHollow » Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:00 am

readyfortheworld wrote:I was not sure where to put this post so sorry if this is the wrong place.

My question: when/how do people go about moving to their law school's city? I will be moving from the mid-west to California for law school in Fall '19 (with my partner). I am working full time now, but I am not sure what the usual pattern is here for 0L/1Ls. Do you move in after you get scholly/loan money? Do you move in during the summer using money saved? When does the school disperse money, anyway?? Do you all live off campus? What if the school offers on-campus housing for aw students?

Any help on this would be appreciated! I wont have any family in the area so I am trying to get ahead of this so I am not homeless come August'19.
Moved from the SW to the Midwest for school, by myself. No family money, so I just tried to save as much as possible in the year prior to moving. I moved in to a furnished graduate student housing apartment. The furniture was garbage, but the setup was easy, and rent included all utilities, so I didn't have to mess around with a bunch of different companies to get gas and power and everything set up. First year loans hit my bank account AFTER the first few classes. You can not/should not be planning on using the loans for anything move-related except paying yourself back for fronting the whole cost.

I moved in the week that class started, partly so that I could work as long as possible before the move (worked last day on Friday, moved Sat/Sun/Monday, class started on Friday). Most people I went to school with moved in about two weeks to a month before school started, and lived on parents' money, fwiw.

readyfortheworld

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Re: Moving To New City for School

Post by readyfortheworld » Mon Jan 07, 2019 2:57 pm

Thank you both for your responses! That was pretty much what I suspected and planned to do, but wanted to be sure I was not missing anything.

Another question, if that's okay: was it at all difficult securing the places/apartments/houses for school? Specifically for off-campus. I am working full time and have been for almost 2 years so producing pay stubs should be no issue. But, I am curious if you can provide any feedback on the challenges a law student may face in getting a landlord to actually rent them a home. I did it once in undergrad, but got a lease with a friend who was working full time. Even then, we faced significant challenges finding a place.

If more context helps: I have a good credit score (750+), consistent work history, and enough savings to cover rent, deposits, bills, etc. Are landlords closer to campus more friendly to law students despite knowing full well I will be living off of scholarship/loans and not actual work income?

nixy

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Re: Moving To New City for School

Post by nixy » Mon Jan 07, 2019 3:44 pm

Landlords don’t care whether you’re living off loans. As long as you have the money they don’t care where it comes from. Student loans are an excellent, reliable source of money.

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cavalier1138

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Re: Moving To New City for School

Post by cavalier1138 » Mon Jan 07, 2019 3:48 pm

The fact that your income will be from loans isn't an issue, but the ease of getting a place is city-dependent.

Finding off-campus housing in NYC is a fucking nightmare, and you'll probably need a co-signer. But in most other cities, it sounds like you'll be in a good position to get a place.

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LSATWiz.com

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Re: Moving To New City for School

Post by LSATWiz.com » Mon Jan 07, 2019 4:12 pm

I'd live with another law student if it's NYC/LA.

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HillandHollow

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Re: Moving To New City for School

Post by HillandHollow » Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:51 am

readyfortheworld wrote:Thank you both for your responses! That was pretty much what I suspected and planned to do, but wanted to be sure I was not missing anything.

Another question, if that's okay: was it at all difficult securing the places/apartments/houses for school? Specifically for off-campus. I am working full time and have been for almost 2 years so producing pay stubs should be no issue. But, I am curious if you can provide any feedback on the challenges a law student may face in getting a landlord to actually rent them a home. I did it once in undergrad, but got a lease with a friend who was working full time. Even then, we faced significant challenges finding a place.

If more context helps: I have a good credit score (750+), consistent work history, and enough savings to cover rent, deposits, bills, etc. Are landlords closer to campus more friendly to law students despite knowing full well I will be living off of scholarship/loans and not actual work income?

I found that the primary difficulty in dealing with the private rental market was that the landlords were exceptionally lazy. This was because the off campus private housing was still in the school's neighborhood, so the landlord knew that one student or another would eventually rent the place. As such, they didn't need to do anything like send me pictures of the unit or provide a floor plan or whatever else I would normally expect a landlord to do. But the school effect also meant that they were far looser with the income requirements. So long as you told them you would be getting school loans, and you could pay the upfront costs, they would approve you.

This is all very city-dependent, I imagine, but it has been true in the several college towns I have experience in. So getting off campus housing shouldn't be an issue, so long as you aren't dramatically far off campus. Also, you should start looking/putting a deposit down way earlier than you think. Stuff goes quickly near the school.

readyfortheworld

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Re: Moving To New City for School

Post by readyfortheworld » Wed Jan 09, 2019 11:48 am

HillandHollow wrote:
readyfortheworld wrote:Thank you both for your responses! That was pretty much what I suspected and planned to do, but wanted to be sure I was not missing anything.

Another question, if that's okay: was it at all difficult securing the places/apartments/houses for school? Specifically for off-campus. I am working full time and have been for almost 2 years so producing pay stubs should be no issue. But, I am curious if you can provide any feedback on the challenges a law student may face in getting a landlord to actually rent them a home. I did it once in undergrad, but got a lease with a friend who was working full time. Even then, we faced significant challenges finding a place.

If more context helps: I have a good credit score (750+), consistent work history, and enough savings to cover rent, deposits, bills, etc. Are landlords closer to campus more friendly to law students despite knowing full well I will be living off of scholarship/loans and not actual work income?

I found that the primary difficulty in dealing with the private rental market was that the landlords were exceptionally lazy. This was because the off campus private housing was still in the school's neighborhood, so the landlord knew that one student or another would eventually rent the place. As such, they didn't need to do anything like send me pictures of the unit or provide a floor plan or whatever else I would normally expect a landlord to do. But the school effect also meant that they were far looser with the income requirements. So long as you told them you would be getting school loans, and you could pay the upfront costs, they would approve you.

This is all very city-dependent, I imagine, but it has been true in the several college towns I have experience in. So getting off campus housing shouldn't be an issue, so long as you aren't dramatically far off campus. Also, you should start looking/putting a deposit down way earlier than you think. Stuff goes quickly near the school.

I was thinking about getting to the area in the summer time, June or July so I have time to settle down/get to know the area before school starts in August as well as to make sure that I did not miss out on the abundance of places that are sure to open up as other students are leaving.

Considering I am out of state, I imagine I would experience a lot of the same landlord lazy that you did, but I did want to ask if being out of state made it anymore difficult to secure the housing. Or would it simply be the same *fill out application* *get approved* *send in fees/rent/deposit* *move in* Do they tend to not care that this is not being handled in person?

You all have been super helpful thus far, by the way. I have significantly less anxiety about the moving process than I did before. THANK YOU!

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HillandHollow

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Re: Moving To New City for School

Post by HillandHollow » Wed Jan 09, 2019 3:02 pm

readyfortheworld wrote: I was thinking about getting to the area in the summer time, June or July so I have time to settle down/get to know the area before school starts in August as well as to make sure that I did not miss out on the abundance of places that are sure to open up as other students are leaving.

Considering I am out of state, I imagine I would experience a lot of the same landlord lazy that you did, but I did want to ask if being out of state made it anymore difficult to secure the housing. Or would it simply be the same *fill out application* *get approved* *send in fees/rent/deposit* *move in* Do they tend to not care that this is not being handled in person?

You all have been super helpful thus far, by the way. I have significantly less anxiety about the moving process than I did before. THANK YOU!

On that particular issue I did not find any greater difficulty. The landlords were well adjusted to out of state applicants and had processes in place to accommodate them. The only thing that *had* to be done in person was the key pick up, which was actually a tiny bit annoying, as the office was not located where my apartment was, and they would not agree to just meet me at the apartment itself. I was driving a UHaul across country, so finding parking for the truck and having to make the stop at all and all that was a hassle.

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