To live in Missoula, Montana for my five months photography training at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, the first thing I need to figure out is housing. I usually lived alone when I was in Taiwan, then I lived with my husband after we got married. So it was nerve racked when I thought about the possibility that I might need to share a room with someone else in order to save money on rent.
RMSP sent me a package with equipment and housing information. In the housing booklet, it includes the neighborhood characteristics, rental websites, property management agencies, hotels that have suites and RV parks, and the average monthly rental range and rental rules.
In the beginning of my house hunting I wasn’t sure about the relationship between price and quality in each neighborhood around downtown Missoula or University of Montana. After four weeks, I started getting a better idea on where I want to live and how much I am willing to pay.
RMSP has its own website for students to find housing because school will receive landlord’s request to post the info, and many of them are furnished. Otherwise, Montana’s craigslist is another good place to start. You can also post your “housing wanted” ad on craigslist for landlords to contact you.
After 4 weeks searching, I realized it is hard to find a place I wanted. The problem is usually a combination of location, price, furnishing and pets. I found a couple of suitable housing that was close to what I am looking for only later found out that one of roommate has a dog or a cat so I have to give it up.
Downtown Missoula has many hotels but only two have full kitchen in the suites, and a laundry room in the hotel - Staybridge Suites and Campus Inn (the Hawthorn Suites is near the airport). The monthly room fee for a suite is around $1300 to $2500.
I also found the Wilma Luxury Condos & Lofts in the 2008-2009 Missoula Area Visitor & Relocation Guide. The location is great and the room has everything you possibly wanted. It is perfect for me but the monthly rate is about $2100.
So after 4 weeks of house searching, I ended up with the first landlord that I contact with via RMSP site because he is the only one to keep in contact with me and offered me a reasonable deal. But who would know just 10 days after I submit my rental agreement and application fee, the owner decide to rent to someone else which wasted almost two weeks of my time. Bummer!
Anyway, I wasn’t in love with the house so I can only tell myself when one door closes another window will open. So I started looking again. Just after I post a new Housing Wanted ad on Montana’s craigslist, a young lady who just bought a 2 bedrooms/2.5 bathrooms home near the downtown area contacted me. She told me that she was thinking about getting a roommate but not sure if you wants to commit to a long-term lease. She saw my ad and thought a 5-month try out would be a good idea for both of us. After few more emails back and forth, we found some similarity between the two of us so maybe this is a good fit. She asked $500 for the monthly rent, which includes everything, and a $300 deposit – which I think was reasonable. I have my own bathroom with everything is brand new in the house. What else can I ask for?
What a great find! So now I know where I am going to stay for that 5 months, and I have booked my ticket for a week break in August. I will need to pack my stuff when the date gets closer. The good thing that I am driving to Montana this time is that I can take whatever I want with me. I am already planning to take my rice cooker, a bag of Japanese rice, Chinese spice and sauces, and frozen goods so I don’t need to worry about the time I miss home food.
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