It’s almost that time of year when students have to start searching around for a rental home, and it’s especially important to plan ahead. The earlier students start to look for rentals the better, since the best and often most affordable rental homes tend to disappear closer to the beginning of January. Unfortunately the time when students should be searching for a rental is right during exams for the fall semester or the first few weeks of school in January.

When searching for a house to rent check out websites like these;
Kijiji-Always a great option, and a variety of properties are posted on here
Craigslist-I know in the Guelph area, less are posted on craigslist, but it still is a great option
University classified website- At the University of Guelph thecannon.ca is an excellent website to find student rentals

There are often other websites where you can find rentals and these can often be found simply by searching on Google

Make sure to act quickly when you find a rental ad online that you are interested in. The best advice is to call the personal who has listed the rental, you will get a quicker response and get priority over those who emailed simply because people don’t check their emails as frequently.

Some things to think about when looking at a rental

• Are utilities included? If they aren’t you need to consider the following;
  • Is the heating electric or gas? You want gas since it’s more efficient which means cheaper bills
  • Check out my article on saving money on cable & internet to reduce those costs
  • Ask when toilets and other water usage appliances function, if they have been recently replaced etc. You don’t want toilets that run, it will burn through cash quickly.

http://www.learnvest.com/2012/10/how-much-will-i-pay-in-utilities-for-my-rental/

For those that only need a 4 month rental, those coming back for only a half semester etc.

Make sure to check out sublets, they are often excellent and cheaper alternatives than locking into a lengthy lease that you don’t need. Often sublets are cheaper, have the flexibility of not being locked into a lease and sometimes have the benefit of utilities being included.