When to look for housing?

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So I am moving to another state for med school this coming fall. When should I look for housing if I am planning to live with my wife? Will this depend largely on the state?
I am putting it off for now as I am waiting for my waitlists to pan out.. .

Originally Posted by CaliforniaAppli

So I am moving to another state for med school this coming fall. When should I look for housing if I am planning to live with my wife? Will this depend largely on the state?
I am putting it off for now as I am waiting for my waitlists to pan out.. .

It'll really depend on the area you want to live in... if you don't mind overpaying, keep waiting. If not, start looking as soon as possible.

Hope the waitlists pan out well.

I'd start looking as early as you can and fill out at least the rental application or other paperwork in advance, since it can sometimes take a few weeks for the leasing office to get your credit history and rental history all put together, and to approve you both (if that's required...I don't know how it would change for married individuals). Once you have a good idea of where you might be going (so, if you're able to narrow it down to 2-3 schools), you might try to put down a deposit for a place in those areas, and once you pick a place, have someone take over your lease (at least, if you're getting an apartment). If your schools are in a fairly populated area, you shouldn't have a problem getting someone else to take over your lease. But this is a little risky....so if you want to wait until you've picked a school that's probably going to be fine too, but you'll probably be left with options that are a little further away and/or more expensive, and/or in less safe areas. But definitely get the paperwork filled in at as many places as you can find.

A month before would be your best bet. That's when stuff starts opening up on craigslist. Most places also won't let you hold apartments for more than a month anyway.

Not sure what everyone else is doing, but I'm in the same situation (girlfriend) and we have already rented a place. I figured if I got off one of the waitlists it would be worth losing my deposit (or worse) since the OOS school I'm going to is really expensive. If I don't get off one of the waitlists, then I already have a great place and don't have to worry about it.

Be prepared if you use craigslist there is allot of scams, but you will figure those out pretty quickly when you ask for more pictures or ask more questions. I eventually found a really nice place off the admitted student newsletter but did find some legit places on craigslist. It's much harder finding a place when you can't go look at it, but google maps street and satellite views really helped in that respect. Oh, and use the "directions" feature to get walking and driving distance to your med school from whatever address you are looking at.

Good luck to you!