[All-postdocs] Searching for housing - Any tips?

[Maggi Mars]

Hi everyone,

I am a WHOI postdoc that started in December and moved here from Japan in November. I moved with my husband and dog, so like Joanie and Elena, I was looking for a two bedroom apartment or house.  Leading up to the move I was pretty desperate trying to find housing. I obsessively checked zillow, trulia, the whoi housing board, posted on our postdoc slack channel, and asked everyone I knew (not many) to keep an ear out for me. I was not able to find a rental before moving here and stayed with friends initially. It helped tremendously to do a staged move. I moved first and my husband and dog joined me two months later. Once physically here, I continued to obsessively for housing. When a two bedroom apartment was listed on zillow, I called immediately, went to go see it, applied, and signed the lease without looking at other rentals. My landlord said she had four other applications in two days after listing the apartment, but went with us because she wanted to rent to WHOI employees. From my experience, my advice is the following: Make sure everyone you talk to about renting knows you will be working at WHOI (other people told me this made a difference when I was looking and I didn’t realize how true it was until my own experience), it will be easier to find housing when you are here than from afar, and act fast (I moved in two weeks after signing and they really would have liked me to move in more quickly). For reference, I ended up in a 1000 sq ft apartment on the east side of east Falmouth, about 8 miles from campus, and am paying $2200 / month. 

Good luck! If you want to talk more, don’t hesitate to message me.

Maggi

-------------------------
Margaret Mars Brisbin, Ph.D. 
Postdoctoral Scholar 
Biology and Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
mmarsbrisbin at whoi.edu <mailto:mmarsbrisbin at whoi.edu> / maggi.mars at gmail.com <mailto:maggi.mars at gmail.com>
@MargaretBrisbin
brisbinplankton.com <http://brisbinplankton.com/>

> On Feb 11, 2021, at 4:12 AM, Elena Ceballos Romero <elenaceballosromero at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Joanie and WHOI postdocs, 
> 
> I am a postdoctoral fellow coming from Spain next June and I am in a similar situation to Joanie. 
> In my case I'll be moving with my husband, so we are for a house or apartment with 2 bedrooms to rent year round.
> Sharing any tips would be very much appreciated. 
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> Elena
> 
> 
> 
> El mié, 10 feb 2021 a las 16:36, Joanie Van De Walle (<jvandewalle at whoi.edu <mailto:jvandewalle at whoi.edu>>) escribió:
> Dear WHOI postdocs,
> 
> I am a postdoctoral fellow coming from Canada. We (my husband, my son and myself) intend to move to the cape soon (hopefully in April or May - Covid brings a lot of uncertainties). We have been searching for a house or apartment with min 2 bedrooms to rent year round for a while now without any success. I've been looking at the WHOI community housing listing, craigslist, rental agencies websites and I even directly contacted some of them, but nothing seems available.
> 
> 
> 
> So, maybe I am doing something wrong or maybe I am not looking at the right places. I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for me or could direct me to the best websites, agencies or contacts. Surely I am not the only one who went through this process and sharing your experience could be helpful. Really, any help would be greatly appreciated! ��
> 
> 
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Joanie Van de Walle
> 
> 
> 
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