Housing

Setting up a new home is not easy, especially when you are in a new city and country. Unlike freshmen who are guaranteed campus housing in their first year, grad students have to settle their own accommodation. Finding a place for permanent residence is a challenging and stressful process – time pressures and uncertainty will set in. Hence, we strongly recommend starting early. Give yourself plenty of time to settle down before the semester starts.

Housing in Pittsburgh

Coming from Singapore where land is scarce and housing consists predominantly of high-rise flats and rows of uniform looking concrete terrace houses, you’ll find the houses in Pittsburgh a really nice change. For one thing, it’s rare to find buildings taller than 10 floors and a row of houses that look identical. Every house here tends to have their own unique character. And don’t be surprised if you see 3 families living in a house. The way some houses are configured is that there are multiple sections (either by floor or by corners) such that each family can live in each section with their own kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, etc.

Besides houses, another type of housing that is common here is called apartments. Apartments are somewhat the equivalent of flats or condos in Singapore. On average, apartments tend to be smaller in floor area than houses (although this can vary) and they often have centralized laundry facilities (coin- or card-operated) and garbage disposal (within or outside the apartment building). They are usually managed by a housing agency which has an onsite or offsite management office to take care of rental issues and most maintenance and repair work required in the apt. Again, service level can vary from agency to agency (and so does rental costs!)

Like Singapore where housing is divided into districts, Pittsburgh divides housing according to neighborhoods. CMU Housing Services provides a good description of the various neighborhoods as but note that the rental price range has not been updated since 1998 so use it to gauge the relative price differences between the neighborhoods). Most CMU students live in the Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and Oakland neighborhoods because it’s closer to CMU. (is there a map of the 3 neighborhood?). Ideally, you’ll want to live where the CMU free shuttle or the PAT (aka SBS) buses to CMU runs, or within walking distance to CMU. Biking or driving is an alternative although driving can be a pain when it comes to parking. If you do plan on driving to campus, you might want to consider getting a campus parking permit.

Resources for Finding Housing

Once you understand the housing system in Pittsburgh, you’ll have to decide when and how you are coming to search for an apartment.

When?
Most students arrive at least 1 month before their semester start. Some people drop by Pittsburgh in June specially to find housing so that they have a place to stay when they arrive formally to settle down in Pittsburgh. When you first arrive and when you start looking for accommodation depends a lot on individual schedules and preferences. In general, it’s good to know the academic calendar and understand how it affects housing availability when planning your trip.

The best time to look for housing is end May to June. CMU and most universities’ academic year starts in late Aug and runs till mid May, although sometimes there are also programs that start in the summer (mid May-mid Aug) or spring (Jan-mid May) semesters.

Another point to note is that some agents have specific dates for starting a lease, e.g. Franklin-West only begins on 1st of the month. Others like Amberson Gardens could be flexible but you’ve to give them one to two weeks between when the previous tenant move out to when you actually move in.

How?
Before you start, we suggest that you drop by CMU’s Housing Services to pick up a list of rooms/houses/apts that are available for rent. After identifying some potential ones off the list, you should call the housing agencies to make appointments to view the apt/house. Other useful resources include the Pittsburgh.com’s FREE classifieds and asking your friends or the Singaporeans who are already here to look out for apts/houses through their own network for you. If you are interested in sharing an apt or room, you could search in the Roommates Registry or the Andrew Bulletin Board.

After viewing several apts/houses, you will begin to compare and tradeoff different factors such as distance from CMU, rental costs, reputation of housing agent, facilities provided, etc. It will be helpful to develop a checklist to remind you of the factors that are important to you. It is also a good idea to be cautious when the rent seems to be relatively lower than other apts/houses within the same area. There are sometimes hidden costs like carpark/garage (range from $20-$70 per month), utilities (your should factor in the cost of the utilities when they are not covered), and air-conditioner during summer (can be as expensive as $50 per month for up to 6 months).

Signing the lease
Once you’ve found your preferred apt/house, you will need to sign a leasing contract with the landlord. Although most contracts are 1-yr term, most agencies would be happy to oblige if you have special requests like if you’ll be here for only 6 months. So remember to CHECK before signing the lease. In addition, at the time of signing the lease, you will need to pay a downpayment of 1 to 2 month’s rent and a security deposit of 1-2 month’s rent. That can come up to quite a huge amount so be prepared.

Temporary Housing
Whether you are coming earlier or not to look for housing, you will need a place to put up temporarily when you first arrive in Pittsburgh. Depending on how soon you find accommodation, this period could last anywhere from 1 week to 1 month (in general, it would be shorter if you can make an additional trip earlier to look for housing). In the past, people have used these options for temporary housing:

1. Motel or hotel. Although this has no time limit, cost can be relatively high. Some places you can try are Holiday-Inn Select (at University Center), Hampton Inn (at University Center) or Best Western (at University Center). You can also check availability and do online bookings at sites such as Travelocity or Hotel.com.

2. CMU housing office: a no-frills option that is affordable but provides only up to 1 week of accommodation.

3. ‘Tong Bang’ at someone’s house. It would ideal if you have friend who can accommodate you.

Moving Into Your House

Unless you are moving into a fully furnished house/apt, you will need to get some essential items (such as bed, toiletries and kitchen utensils) as you move into your new accommodation. Most apts come with basic kitchen facilities such as a refrigerator, a stove/oven and kitchen counter space. Usually, you will need to get your own bed, TV and furniture. For that purpose, you might want to consider renting a U-Haul to go shopping for large bulky items. You should also discuss with your landlord to see if it’s possible to move your furniture in before your actual move-in day. Sometimes if the house is already vacant, they will be happy to oblige.

Once you’ve settled into your new home, and begin to know your way around, your preferences and needs might change and you might decide to move to another house/apt or even consider buying a house. It is common so don’t be too hard-pressed on finding the perfect accommodation on your first trial :)