ou are leaving town for the summer. As excited as you are to live in a different city for the next several months, you need to find a place to live. Worse, you need to look for a place while still in school and possibly without actually seeing it first. Thankfully, summer housing is common, and you should have plenty of options available to help you find a place.
The first resource you should utilize is your employer. Many employers actively check the classified ads for you or connect with property managers with popular local buildings to see if there are any housing opportunities for their summer interns. Some employers go one step further, and have rights of first refusal for properties available, whether publicly listed or not. Your employer wants your summer experience to be as pleasant for you as possible, so they are more likely than not going to be there to help. Take them up on it!
The second place to go would be to the national classified ads. Craigslist has seemingly taken over this market in recent years, and in more populated cities there will be hundreds of listings each day. Keep in mind that almost everyone in your position will also be checking these postings, which could make it somewhat competitive to get the exact place that you want from a different city. But hey, it’s still a great option and many have been extremely successful and satisfied after using it.
A third option is the specific city’s apartment rental services themselves. Most major towns have several locally based housing services available to help you find short or long term housing. In some cities there is a fee, while in others, it is free.
I never took a job outside Chicago during law school. When I moved, I visited the city directly to find a place, but supplemented my search by looking both at the national classifieds on Craigslist as well as a more local listing from a local service. Visiting your city directly may not be an option for many of you, as you are still in the midst of exams or getting ready to pack up your life and move for the summer.
So we want to know, how are you planning on finding housing if you are living in a different city for the summer? Let us know in the comments.
