California-->Davis Sq...help?!

[busylilbear.livejournal.com]

Hey everyone!
I'll be graduating from UC Berkeley next month and I'm planning to move to Boston. After ::extensive:: searching, I've absolutely fallen in love with Davis Square! Here's the rub: the same few places keep showing up on Craigslist, and most of them are awful.

Does anyone here know of an apartment opening up for 6/1?

Here's the details from my end:
*as close to the T station as possible... so less than a mile would be ideal
*cat friendly
*1-br (preferably), or studio
*laundry in building, heat included (ideally)
*parking would be awesome, but I can deal either way
*non-basement... it doesn't have to have a zillion windows, but I need SOME light, especially when adjusting to Boston winters! ;)
*I can pay up to $1200... although on a post-college budget, less is obviously better

If you do set me up with a place, I'm thinking some sort of compensation or homemade cookies would definitely be in order :)

Thank you guys in advance. I can't WAIT to move out there and experience all of the amazing stuff that everyone's been posting about on here!!

Comments

[muckraking.livejournal.com]

Also, consider hiring a real estate agent. (They work on commission, so if you don't find an apartment for you -- it doesn't cost you anything.)

Unlike Berkeley (where I used to live), many landlords do NOT list their apartments on Craigslist. Apartment Rentals Experts (http://www.apartmentrentalexperts.com/) appears to be the largest service in the area. Like any real estate firm, you'll see mixed reviews depending on the agent.

I agree with the comment that you'll probably like Cambridge, too, especially Central Square or Porter Square.

But if you don't have a job yet, I second the recommendation to get a summer sublet first. You might wind up with a job that is a long commute from Davis. And there are other great parts of the city to live in.

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

+1 on checking out Cambridge - due to the way town borders work around here parts of Cambridge are closer to Davis than parts of Somerville. There's a bunch of houses between Alewife (end of the Red Line of the T) and Davis - I'm practically on top of Alewife and it takes me about 15 minutes to walk to Davis from here.

Also +1 on the suggestion to sublet with others over the summer, particularly if you don't find anything you really like that fits your requirements.

[busylilbear.livejournal.com]

Good to know that about landlords and craigslist.

Definitely looking at Cambridge now.

As for the sublet, I'm open to subletting but I really don't want to live with other people... I just got out of the living situation from hell (seriously, I almost called the cops on my roommate's live-in bf multiple times bc he was so violent, etc.) and I'm very hesitant to go through that again!