Hello everyone! I hope you ar doing well, in this video I'm going to be giving you
seven bits of advice on what to do when house hunting in Southampton
So let's do it! Point number one Who do you want to live with?
There are many ways of deciding who you want to live with and what approaches you
want to take when doing this firstly if you really get on with your flatmates
from first year, you could live with them. Equally, you could live with course mates a
benefit of this would be you can help each other with modules as you're
all doing the same degree, thirdly you could live with people from your society.
In my rugby team I know many people that live together as they'll be
training and playing games every week. For me personally, I'm living with a bit
of a mix so I'm living with one of my first year flatmates, I'm living with a
friend from a module, then his friend and then that friend's flatmate from first year as well.
So a big mix but a good mix! Equally many people choose to
live by themselves in second year. The university offers people that are not first
years to still live in halls so you could do that. Equally there are many other
places you can find in Southampton plenty of online resources of people advertising
rooms and houses if you just want to live by yourself.
Point number two. Where do you want to live?
You can either choose to live next to campus meaning that you
don't have to walk as far to get to lectures you can wake up a bit later and
still make it on time. Some people choose to live closer to town because there's
many things in town that they attend so it's more convenient for them as well.
What a lot of people do after their first year is they move to an area
called Portswood which is in between town and campus therefore you're cutting out the
best of both worlds not too far from lectures and not too far from town
equally Portswood in itself is like a mini town so you've got many things that
you would require there.
Also many people might choose to live next to a
supermarket meaning that when you do your weekly shop you don't have very far to walk.
Point number 3. What sort of house you would like and what you want to be
included inside it? You may want a detached house so you don't have the
threat of having noisy neighbours and the walls next to you.
You may want a flat, you may be happy with a semi-detached house which is what I'm in.
And also you've got to decide what you want in it, how many bathrooms
whether you want big desk whether you're happy with single or you want double beds.
Whether you want a dishwasher anything like that, personally in my house
we just went for big desks because we needed something
good to study on, as we're doing degrees and double beds just for some extra comfort.
Point number four. How much are you willing to pay?
So if you move in with people you've got to decide how much
each person will be willing to spend.
Also, another thing you have to consider is whether you'd rather bills being included or
excluded and compare different prices and looking at this if you know for a
fact you'll be using loads of water loads of electricity but it may be better to
have bills included, as no matter how much you use the price per month of all
those bills will always be the same. Alternatively, if you want bills excluded
then you can be more careful with the energy and electricity you're using as
you'll be directly charged for it. So if you decide to have the heating off you're
gonna be charged less. With this being said this leads me to.
Point number five. Time to get started.
Start looking online, start visiting estate agents,
look at the reviews from previous tenants so you can see how well they were treated
by that a state agent when you've got that far start to book viewings.
When looking for a house make sure you're taking your time and not rushing and
being thorough with it, to make sure you're getting the house that you want
and the conditions that you want are being met. When doing so don't let
landlords or estate agents pressurise you into signing things quickly. This leads me nicely to
Point number six. Things to look out for when you're at a viewing.
When you're at a viewing you should make sure you're being thorough with
everything I'm not just scanning the room, you should be looking under sofas
as the sofa maybe there to hide something. Looking in corners on ceilings
if there's any mold, damp spots and then asking why that's there. Looking at the
water pressure, finding out the age of white goods. Flick switches to make sure
the lights work and ensure any questions that you have about the property you are
asking the estate agent and if they do promise you something such as saying
they'll put a new sheet of paint on the wall make sure you
get it in writing so you can prove that they did promise you this.
And finally point seven. What the Advice Centre at the University of Southampton can do for you.
The Advice Centre is found in building 40 upstairs and they offer great
help to people looking for houses and even when you're in the house they can still help you.
They do many things for students who are moving into housing such
as looking over the contract with you, making sure everything is in order
and everything's okay before you do sign it, they'll also give you any advice you
require such as remember to take pictures of the house when you
move in, so if the landlords do charge you for damage that wasn't you you could
prove to them by showing them the pictures with this being said there's so
much more advice available to you which can be found on www.susu.org/support/housing
It basically just gives you loads of advice on things to
look out for when you're moving in. Additionally to this make sure you know
your rights and be prepared to stand up for yourself
ensuring that landlords and estate agents do not take you for a ride.
And on that note that concludes this video. I hope this has helped, I hope you've enjoyed it!
Happy house hunting everyone! I'll catch you guys later!