Finding the perfect place to live in New Orleans while in college can be hard. Between balancing classes, clubs and work along with getting situated with roommates, rent and utilities, you can be in for a real nightmare. But with some time and effort, finding your comfort zone is possible.
If you’re looking for a place Uptown, in the Garden District or even Mid City, it’s not going to take one day. It might even take longer than a couple of weeks. With a city that grows in population every year, house hunting is all about patience.
Craigslist, real estate agents and friends are three good areas to start when hunting for your new abode. For students such as Christopher Giambelucca, a nursing student at Our Lady of Holy Cross College, it took driving around the city and contacting a friend’s mom just to get situated.
“I wanted to live by myself, and after driving around the city for days, I finally realized my friend’s mom is a real estate agent and I got in touch with her,” Giambelucca said. “She had listings across the city and found me a spot after 2-3 weeks. It’s still on the expensive side, but I got utilities, a big yard and garage parking all for $950. It’s a pretty good deal to what I was finding on Craigslist.”
An advantage of many Uptown, Garden District and Mid City properties is that students are able to pool money with their friends to afford a solid property. Whether you choose a New Orleans original shotgun-style house, creole cottage or a town house, there is a type of house for everyone. Unfortunately, because the houses in Uptown are bigger, landlords are looking for more than just $950 a month for rent.
However, if you have two to three roommates living with you and each of you can bring in over $500-$600 each for rent you have a good bit left over for food and utilities. Lowell Smith, psychology sophomore, and his roommates figured out what to do about living off of campus without much of a hassle.
“For me to live off of campus, it’s over $2000 dollars cheaper, and I have my own room. We live in a pretty big place that’s over 2000 sq. ft. with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. We’re not going crazy about money at all. We pretty much take care of the finances,” Smith said.
Tyler Steele, music therapy senior, said don’t be afraid to get a big place, because splitting rent with roommates makes everything simpler.
“I love living off campus. I can bike to school, and go to the library late. I also have my roommate Eric there for me in case I ever need help with anything. Finding it wasn’t that bad either. It’s a nice living situation to have several of us together staying on top of everything,” Steele said.
House hunting can be a challenge, but if you get in touch with an agent or person in the area you’re looking to live, don’t be afraid to get a roommate and try to pool your finances together with a couple of roommates, house hunting might become a little bit easier.
