Just as school starts to get into full swing (and I, like everyone else, have a million and one things to do), I get a letter from my landlord.

“Please let us know if you are planning to live in this residence next year.”

My first reaction? It’s the beginning of October! Why should I look for a new house right now?

The answer? Because everyone else is and if you don’t, you probably aren’t going to get what you want.

The house I currently live in basically fell into my lap.

I was planning to live with my best friend who was studying abroad at the time. She called me up (from Austria) and told me that a friend of hers had a house and needed two more people to live with.

When I went to look at the house, I fell in love.

The kitchen was large with two refrigerators and it was a huge, open floor plan. The living rooms and bedrooms all had wood flooring, and each room had a closet (my room has TWO walk-in closets). Plus the bedrooms were ridiculously big.

Within days, I signed the lease.

And it was easy as that.

This year is not so easy. My friend decided to graduate in spring, so my first issue was finding a new roommate.

Luckily, a friend of mine who was supposed to graduate decided to stay another year and agreed to become my roomie.

Being online editor, I basically use the Internet for everything. So, I began my house search on Google.

Most of the homes I found for two people were ridiculously far away. So my friend and I decided to make a list of requirements to narrow down the search.

1) Ridiculously close to campus;
2) Large kitchen; (We both love to cook)
3) Somewhat nice and livable.
The first house we looked at was gorgeous.

The house was on the Historical List of Homes and in its prime. All of the original woodwork was scattered about the house, plus it was spacious. And it was only two blocks from campus. My only complaint was a smallish kitchen and a hefty rent rate.

After talking it over, we decided to keep looking.

We found a house that met the location requirements. We decided to check it out.
As soon as I walked into the old Victorian house, I immediately vetoed it.

We had to walk through a garage to get to the stairs. Just as the landlord opened she quickly began to explain the smell.

“The garage often gets flooded,” she said. “They are thinking about tearing it down and putting in a parking lot.”

The stench was horrible. It was a mix of mildew and raunchiness. It made me nauseous.
My future roomie asked me about it and I completely refused. I said we should keep looking.

Well, we kind of kept looking. Then an e-mail resurfaced about living in a house. I won’t say which, but it’s attractive.

The house is furnished (except for the bedrooms) and the bedrooms are large. The floor plan is spacious. And the kitchen is not huge, but tolerable.

So really, there is no end to this column. I have not signed a lease, nor do I exactly know where I am going to end up.

All I really know is, if you are going to be picky, start looking now.