Turn back the clocks to last November. I'm a junior with no idea what I'm doing with my life. I decide, very spur of the moment, to channel my inner Tufts student and study abroad in the spring. Terrific! All my friends are already planning on it. My teachers say it's a great experience. Mom and Pops are excited about how cultured I'll be. Yada yada yada. Except I forgot one little thing. … I have absolutely no place to live next year.
I was one of those ones with the super high lottery number from the start. That sealed me a spot in Hillsides as a sophomore and 100 percent sealed me out of one of those cozy spots in Sophia Gordon Hall.
A little note on that, &$%# SoGo. Go ahead and crank the heat up to Bikram Yoga levels. Abuse your free Tufts privileges. It won't last. And when you peace out and have to slum it like the rest of us, I'll be standing on the side, laughing at your sadness. I'm bitter.
Anyway, I decided I wasn't trying to live in Tufts housing anymore. I figured even if I paid more in rent, I'd save it in keg vs. cans costs. My roommate and I hustle-bustled to put together a crew for a house and a place to live approximately six weeks after everyone else did.
And that's how I ended up at 9 Fairmount St.
I currently live in a s---hole. Let me detail. When we moved in, the front door didn't close. My bedroom's suspended ceiling had become very much unsuspended. The kitchen windows didn't close. The sublessees had used all the oil, and thus we had no hot water. Our bathroom sink dripped, and our kitchen sink sprayed water everywhere. We needed to have the windows in our sunroom boarded up because we only had storm windows. Hell, last month our bathroom ceiling fell into our bathtub because the apartment upstairs had a leak running for three days. Literally, I was sitting in my room and heard the last gasps of life as my house began crumbling in on itself.
Two weeks before, we'd had all of our house's water shut off for over two days. I had to go up the street to a friend's to brush my teeth, and the Dunkin' Donuts bathroom and I got real familiar. We almost threw a Third World party, complimentary malaria tablets and everything. Ladies, you better be comfortable peeing outside too.
I'm sorry for ranting. It's been a trying experience. We're afraid to turn the heat on because our oil prices are sky high, so I'm sitting in a 58-degree house. I'm allowed to be a little cranky. I meant this to be a helpful guide to prospective leasers. So here are some tips I have for anyone looking at houses right now:
1. Talk to the people who live in the house you are considering. They will give you the lowdown on what's good.
2. Don't consider the lowest possible rent a plus. Fifty dollars more a month is a jump of 600 dollars over the year. However, the jump in quality of life is worth it.
3. Find out if the heating is gas or oil. Gas is far superior.
4. Start looking early. Same goes for finding sublessees. And when you do find sublessees, lie to them and tell them someone else is trying to live there and you need a security deposit from them. Otherwise you may be dodging Molotov cocktails in Athens only to find out one day that the group of friends that was going to live in your house just pulled out. And most importantly:
5. Don't live in 9 Fairmount.
