MSUCOM Housing Choices

[medic170]

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I am starting MSUCOM next fall. I currently live on MSU campus in University Apartments with my wife, and we HATE it. Its very loud and, well, it just sucks.


I was hoping someone could give us some suggestions on Apartments that are not too far away, like Okemos, Holt, Haslett, or East lansing (anywhere that the commute will be short), but that ARE family friendly, comfortable, fairly quiet, and under $700.00 a month. If you guys know of any places we should check out, please let us know ASAP so we can start getting things set up. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Ypo.]

Try Indian Hills apartments in Haslett off of Haslett road-close commute-like 10 minutes. I think they are within that price range-and I haven't ever seen wild parties going down there.

 

[medic170]

I'll check that one out, thanks. Anyone else have suggestions?

 

[msucomtim]

I'll check that one out, thanks. Anyone else have suggestions?

I would check woodland lakes, it is really nice and a new complex, it is south of campus so it is quiet. When i went there it seemed to me there were alot of famlies there.

 

[medic170]

Bump.....anyone else?

 

[lotanna]

Try Lakeview in Haslett, corner of Okemos rd and Lk Lansing rd, like 10mins away. I was just there at 2am on a fri night/sat morn, and it was as calm as can be 😀

Try Brandywine apts, its between east lansing and haslett, nice environment, maybe 10mins

Homestead on Lake lansing, by the Meijers there

 

[forreala]

My girlfriend rented a nice 2 bedroom in Lansing for $400/month while she was in school, it even had a garage and fenced in yard. The neighborhood was certainly liveable (off Kalamazoo) I liked it better than some of the student ghettos in E.L. It may take some time to locate one but check out the Lansing State Journal they usually list a bunch of homes for rent.

Also, keep in mind a $700/month rent is nearly $100,000 mortgage payment.

Good luck,

Scott

P.S. I own a 3 bedroom home in Perry (20-25 min from campus) and am trying to find a roommate, I'm also looking to buy another home in E.L. if I do I'll drop a note in the forum looking for roommates.

 

[Ratch]

caution looking into homes, there is no guarantee you will be able to do your clinical rotations in lansing as third and fourth year placement is no guarantee depending on student interest in certain areas, and lansing is always one where more students want to go than there are placement spots for students. owning a house, having kids, etc. are not reasons for special consideration, check with the school if you think you would deserve as much, but the conditions are limited so that students don't all try to get special consideration to get a guaranteed spot under false pretenses. it may work out for you, but if it doesn't...

 

[forreala]

caution looking into homes, there is no guarantee you will be able to do your clinical rotations in lansing as third and fourth year placement is no guarantee depending on student interest in certain areas, and lansing is always one where more students want to go than there are placement spots for students. owning a house, having kids, etc. are not reasons for special consideration, check with the school if you think you would deserve as much, but the conditions are limited so that students don't all try to get special consideration to get a guaranteed spot under false pretenses. it may work out for you, but if it doesn't...

You are absolutely correct in what you said above. My original message was to suggest looking into renting homes, not renting an apartment. There are a lot of inexpensive homes for rent, especially in Lansing. 2 years ago I rented a 4 bedroom 3 & 1/2 bath home in East Lansing for $1,200, it even had a 2 car garage and finished basement. I had one roommate and we shared this monster for $600/month each. It was 100x better than an apartment.

My line about a $100,000 mortgage is a $700/month payment was meant to show how much the home should be worth if he were to rent it. So if he can afford $700 in rent, he could live in a home that has a market value from $75,000-$100,000. Those would be some very nice homes, especially in Lansing.

I'm the one looking to buy. I've already managed to reach the mark of home owner and I never want to rent again. Even if I have to sell in two years I would have to lose more than (roughly) $20,000 to make it a bad deal. (that's $800/month for 24 months). In East Lansing's real estate market I really don't see that happening.

For years and years people have been telling me not to buy for a million reasons. After buying a house I can't believe I wasted more than $100,000 in rent payments over the years (yes I'm an older guy). With today's interest rates, no payment down plans, and a strong real estate market the 3 year rule is nearly obsolete.

 

[berniesonhigh]

Hey,
I lived at Abbott Pointe for years. On Abbott Road, right across from Reno's.

It's not glamorous, and the management sucks, (Don't all apartment managers), but it was close to campus and cheap as hell.

I lived at the back, which was surrounded by woods on one side and a neighborhood on the other; for the most part pretty peaceful. There was a huge church yard, and I mean huge, that was always empty you could use right next door to get some peace and quiet outside. Reno's right across the street to get some food or play some darts. Library a block away. White's Pond Park, right behind the fire station. A really nice bike trail that connects all of the parks with Meijer and the Nature Center and the Water Park and the Soccer Complex and the Softball Complex, etc........ ONLY A BLOCK AWAY!!!

It's pretty peacuful there, other than the occasional gangster wanna-be who cranks his rap music up. Management nips that kind of crap right in the but if you push them.

Anyway, stay away from Perry. It will only bring you down.

 

[Ypo.]

My Dad lived in Perry for 10 years, its not that bad. They even have a stoplight in the town now. 😀 Its about a 20 minute commute on the freeway, tho. I'm not sure if you could find a place for much cheaper in Perry than you could in Lansing. But there are some scary places in Lansing...Perry doesn't have scary places. Its a small town with a million churches, you get the idea.

 

[berniesonhigh]

Also, somone mentioned renting a house. I advise to think twice if you don't have kids. I was in apartments while in East Lansing. Now I'm in a house in Downers Grove, IL (CCOM).

The utilities on a house EAT YOU AWAY. At Abbott Pointe, all I paid for was electricity and of course phone/cable.

With a house: electricity, water, trash disposal, sewage, gas, insurance (most landlords require renters insurance), lawn care, leaf disposal. If the house isn't insulated very well, you're doomed.

All of this adds up to quite a bit. If you're a rich spoiled brat like most Med Students, than you won't have to worry about this, Mommy and Daddy will pay (as long as you do what they say.) For the rest of us though, it puts a crimp in your budget.

The one thing really nice about a house though, is your own washer and dryer. If i knew then, what I know now, I would have bought one of those mini washer and dryers for apartments.

 

[berniesonhigh]

You're right. Perry is not that bad and it's definitely better than Lansing. I lived in Clifford Fields subdivision(Beard and Beardsley) for a while. My parents still live there.

My problem with Perry is that there is nothing there. No good restaurants, no Meijer (IGA sucks), and no place to hang out for younger people. I hated driving back at 3:00 am from O'malleys.

 

[medic170]

Anyone know anything about Homestead on Lake Lansing?

 

[Ypo.]

You're right. Perry is not that bad and it's definitely better than Lansing. I lived in Clifford Fields subdivision(Beard and Beardsley) for a while. My parents still live there.

My problem with Perry is that there is nothing there. No good restaurants, no Meijer (IGA sucks), and no place to hang out for younger people. I hated driving back at 3:00 am from O'malleys.

Yeah, I know what you mean about that. I guess you'd have to do your shopping on the way back home to Perry.

I'm very impressed that you managed to go to a bar and acutally stay till closing more than once during medical school. 😉

 

[berniesonhigh]

I used to work at O'malleys as a DJ. There are a lot of Med Students who frequent bars. I work at a bar around CCOM now. I see them at the bar, plus there are numerous organized bar nights here.

 

[forreala]

Good advice about the utilities, you're right they can get steep during the winter. I'm just not a big fan of apartments and know from experience that you can get a pretty decent deal on a rental home in E.L. or Lansing and thought I'd throw it out there as an option.

As for the Perry bashing, I can't believe I'm still being called a redneck! I took my shotgun out of my truck window BEFORE deer season even started and the confederate flag has been down for at least 3 months.

Seriously though you hit the nail on the head about Perry's lack of grocery stores and restaurants. I'd still rather live there than E.L. or Lansing any day. One man's junk is another man's treasure I guess.