HOUSING

[Guest studentz]

Hey,

 

The Queen's board is pretty dead since nothing new will happen between now and June, so what do you guys plan to do about housing if you go there?

 

One of my interviewers was nice and honest, pointing out tha the ghetto is horrible (a friend confirmed this for me too) and that current students get the upper hand with housing since we don't learn til June at the earliest.

 

What did a few of the current students do in their first year, where are some of the nicer areas and general rent rates?

[Guest QueensMSc]

Your best bet is to find a place east of the campus (coincidentally a short walk through the park to the meds buildings). Generally, the houses in the vicinity (4 block radius) of the MEDS HOUSE are the nicest (checkout King St East, William St, Clergy, Wellington, lower Earl, Ontario and Baggot). There are particularly nice apartment buildings available along the water front (off of Ontario Street and owned by a company called HOMESTEAD).

 

Regarding the 'tip' that current students get the upper hand, I would make an arguement that this is false. Current students generally sign all of the houses that come available May 1st... which isn't necessarily desirable for anyone moving to Kingston in September. Plus, houses on that lease cycle tend to be leased (or have been leased) long-term to undergraduates and may therefore be of lesser quality. Therefore, being in the position to swoop in come Setember and pick-up whatever hits the market is kind of nice. Often the houses that come available during this period belong to graduate students who are transferring schools or vocations, and tend to be held by more responsible landlords.

 

In general, there will be lots of options for you to choose from--especially considering the bank loan that will give you that extra flexibility in price. So, above all, don't panic. And by no means should you sign a place without viewing it first.

 

Best of luck on your hunt. There is treasure amongst the trash.

 

QueensMSc

[Guest coastalslacker]

I'm from BC and I didn't want to come out to find a place, so I got a spot in Meds House. It was a great choice. I pay $270 a month for a spot in a double, plus $200 a month for lunches and dinners, monday to friday. My room is huge, more than big enough for two people, and I have a view of the lake from my desk. There's all sorts of other good stuff but I won't bother going into it. There should be a flyer going out with acceptance packages, please excuse its tackiness-I'm supposed to update it but I don't think the spirit will be moving me to do that anytime soon (too nice out, too much to learn, extra stuff falls by the wayside). I believe there will be 8 spots for in-house first years next year. Last year we had 5 spots and turned away 8 other people. The year before there were 8 spots and they filled the 8th in August. It varies from year to year.

 

I'm currently looking for an apartment for next year since my girlfriend is moving out in a few weeks. What the previous poster said is pretty complete. The Homestead buildings are good-there are 4 of them, many med students live there, and they are about 5 minutes from school and 5 minutes from downtown (the other way). Rent is 800 or 900 for a one bedroom, 1000-1100 for a 2BR. Alot of people stay east of the park/campus, but you'll pay a little bit more for it. I don't know anyone who lives in the heart of the ghetto. Princess street is the mythical divide, the crossing of which is associated with venturing into a slightly sketchier world. In reality, there isn't a huge difference North of Princess, and you'll pay a couple hundred bucks less. The only thing is you'll be a little bit farther away. From what I've read/found out, houses for rent for Sept. 1 generally start coming on the market in Mid-may so, if you get in at the start of June, you won't have missed too much. Re-reading this, it's kind of scatterred, but so it goes.

 

cheers

[Guest Isoceles]

That is totally helpful!! Thanks Coastal!

If I have to wonderful good fortune of getting to look for a place (:\ I will probably be in the market for a two bdrm (or three if my little bro (coming to Queen's for undergrad...YAY!) and I can find another roomate) house east of campus... do you know what sort of price range should I expect??

[Guest seedstrike]

I'm cutting and pasting an entry from last year's FAQ. The link to the site is here: link

 

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3. What is rent like in Kingston? How do I find a place? (Zoe P.)

 

Because Kingston is such a student town, there’s generally a lot of housing to be had; however, the quality can vary quite a bit, depending on where you’re looking, and I have yet to find a good comprehensive housing listing that lays out all the options for you. Here’s some ideas/resources to help get you started…

 

Queen’s University Accomodation Listing Service ( website)

This is a great site for getting started, especially if you’re interested in living close to campus. You can search for available properties by type of accomodation (i.e. house or apartment) and number of bedrooms. They have a section of hints on househunting, a phone number and actual walk-in office so you can get help and ask questions, an area map and a link to details on the Tenant Protection Act.

 

Upside: Your search for a particular type of accomodation will give you a list of available addresses, the rent, and the landlord’s name and phone number. Even if you don’t see anything you like, it’s usually worth it to call the landlords and ask if they have any other properties. Many of them don’t list everything they own on that site, and I’ve even had some give me names and numbers of other landlords who might have something suitable.

 

Downside: Many of these properties are located in and around the Queen’s “Student Ghetto” (i.e. pretty noisy, kind of dirty undergrad neighbourhoods)- this does NOT mean that they’re all bad (in fact, some of the best deals/locations will be found here), but it’s impossible to judge quality until you actually go and see them.

 

Larger Property-Owning Companies

These are well-established businesses with actual offices and established contracts with repair-people, etc. They usually also own offices/properties other than student housing. Here’s a few that I know of:

Keystone Property Management - (613) 546-5555 (Website)

Panadew Holdings - (613) 548-4795 (Website)

Homestead Land Holdings- (613) 546-3146 (Website)

 

Upside: Usually, better after-hours coverage in terms of repairs, etc. and more established policies in place.

 

Downside: You’ll probably pay more and have less flexibility in terms of things like pets and decorating/painting.

 

Random Advertisments

Don’t overlook this. Kingston newspaper classifieds, telephone posts, campus bathroom stalls and message boards are usually filled with people looking for tenants and housemates. Many of these will include a short description of all the perks so you know basically what’s involved and where it is. This is an especially great way to go if you want to live with other students and are interested in meeting some new people.

 

 

RENT: In general, one room in a ghetto house can run as low as $275-ish. (Beware of prices this low. They’re usually indicative of a sanitary disaster.) Average rent for one person in a four-person house/apartment is around $350-$400. Two-bedroom places will work out to a little more than that, and you can usually get a decent one-bedroom apartment for somewhere between $600-$800, depending on where it is. Most of these prices do not include utilities, heat, laundry, or parking.

 

 

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[Guest ZCH]

Also there's the grad res in the JDUC in case you're last minute.

 

But yeah, i'm east of campus right now and it's incredible...great walk, nice lake, quiet neighborhood.

[Guest Ian Wong]

Floating to the top...

 

Ian