Relocation
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Relocation
Housing
Moving to the University area offers an extremely diverse array of options. While that has many advantages, it can also make choosing where to live an overwhelming process. The information on this page offers some suggestions about where to start.
Rental Information
ApartmentList.com, Move.com, Apartment Showcase, Apartment Guide, and rentable.co offer on-line searching of most area apartment complexes. They enable users to search based on desired facilities, services, etc. and provide floor plans, rental rates, and community features for matching complexes. Apartment Ratings provides reviews by current or past tenants. (Bear in mind that it seems likely that those who submit reviews are individuals with particularly strong opinions.)
- Craig's List provides listings of all types of rental properties.
- HotPads College Park is a map-based internet listing service. HotPads also occasionally lists sublets.
- Trulia provides rental listings and community information.
- Rent.com offers listings specific to College Park.
- RentToOwnLabs.com lists houses that are available for this kind of lease.
- Sabbaticalhomes.com and AcademicHomes.com are web sites that help faculty worldwide find houses or apartments for rent, exchange or house-sit when on sabbatical leave, research trip, exchange program, relocation or vacations.
- Zillow Rentals is a map-based internet listing service.
Purchase Information
The web search services listed below will give you an idea of the type and cost of housing in various communities.
This isn't intended to be a comprehensive list of the web search services available, nor is it intended to be any sort of recommendation.
The Washington Post and the Live Baltimore also offer searchable listings of homes for sale.
A quick Google search for "home buying advice" will bring you almost a billion hits in the blink of an eye, and almost all of them have something to offer. The important thing to remember, especially if this is your first time buying a house, is to take the time to look at that information.
Short-Term Housing
Unfortunately, the University does not offer short-term housing on campus. However, there are many other possibilities for different forms of short-term housing.
- Domain College Park is located steps from campus and maintains a few units as short-term rentals for new and visiting faculty on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Sublet Information is an apartment rental service that advertises apartments, sublets, subleases, roommates & houses for rent. See also the Washington Post on-line search process for current classified ads. Finally, Craig's List provides subletting listings.
- Apartment Complexes generally offer 3, 6 or 9 month leases at slightly higher rents. On-line locator services allow searching for apartments that offer this option. NOTE HOWEVER that in practical terms many complexes often do not offer short-term leases since they prefer to lease by the year. (Furniture rental is also generally available.)
- Biz-Stay is another on-line resource. The preferred accommodation choices in their directory are short-term furnished apartments or homes, and apartment-style hotel rooms with kitchens. (Accommodations of this type are commonly referred to as corporate housing, temporary housing, serviced apartments, extended stay hotels, apart-hotels or self-catering apartments.) Preference is also given to hotels that offer extended-stay discounts, typically for 7 days or longer. There are a wide-variety of listings for the Washington D.C. metro area.
- PC Housing, a nationwide temporary housing provider.
Moving Assistance
The University offers assistance in coordinating your household move. Using the University's moving assistance program can
- reduce moving expenses
- lower the risk of poor service or even fraud from moving companies
- mean you won't have to pay cash to your movers on the day of the move
More information about the University's moving assistance program is available here.