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Creative Solutions: How'd they do it?8 h$ v' {: E$ A( l, y5 o
Nothing says home like the living room couch) v2 H x& Z6 i& Y9 C
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Alexandra Zabjek
/ N( S+ r. x) r) TThe Edmonton Journal
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Sunday, May 20, 2007( z! C/ O |5 b8 V/ f
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Student apartments aren't typically luxurious places, but soaring rents in Edmonton are forcing some students to pare down their living arrangements even more than usual.
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/ H) w3 }% d/ I$ YAt Steve Li's one-bedroom apartment near NAIT, the living room is a bedroom for his roommate, Bill Chadwick.) p4 @3 h0 Z' L# D/ h" Y
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Li and Chadwick, both students, split the $600 rent almost evenly -- Li gets the bedroom for $325 per month, while Chadwick pays $275 per month to put his bed in the living room.% s7 T e- H3 b8 j1 T% _1 {0 X4 R
. r9 N3 w* |( P# M I"I receive approximately $700 per month (in grants) to go to school," says Chadwick, 32. "So when $275 comes into the picture, it works out quite well."
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After spending time couch-surfing with friends, Chadwick says having a "defined space" is great, even if it isn't a proper bedroom.
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1 F+ p( }. w" w7 ]2 s6 ZSharing a one-bedroom apartment is a common arrangement amongst Chinese students studying in Edmonton, says Li, who has been living in Canada for the past seven years. It's a big change for many of these students, he says.
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"The people who can afford to send their kids to Canada to study are quite rich," he says. "(Their) apartments in China are big."
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( M5 o; M# ^* z% h4 Z* mSplitting the rent on a one-bedroom apartment, however, make things much easier for students with limited budgets.
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"I wouldn't say (it would be completely) unaffordable, but this way it's much more economical," he says.. U$ p$ a1 Z& y; I) E& ~/ V6 {
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SOMEONE IN THE BASEMENT TO HELP PAY THE MORTGAGE
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& E) C0 U; v- @2 [4 J$ OWhen Caitlin Crawshaw and her girlfriend bought a bungalow in Bonnie Doon last summer, it wasn't just the location that sold them on the 1950s era house. It was also the basement suite.) I0 d# N: `3 v4 `! t0 w6 z
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"It wasn't originally part of our plan," Crawshaw says. "But as soon as we started looking at houses and seeing what the market was, we thought that maybe we should consider it."# S3 T0 L: F, w1 V" }
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Their tenant pays $500 per month for the 750-square-foot suite. The money helps the couple pay down their mortgage more aggressively and provides a cushion in case either loses their job, says Crawshaw.' H3 |) H" A# ?4 l( y9 J
% V' h& L' o2 }6 V6 R% m- yThe arrangement has worked out well, especially because the tenant was already living in the house when they moved in and has proved to be a "fantabulous" tenant who often spends time gardening in the yard or raking leaves, says Crawshaw, 25.
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+ u6 l- G0 }# {7 {* }0 j9 O) ~The downside, however, is the lack of space. The couple and their two cats share about 750-square-feet on the upper floor of the house.5 ]/ T7 n( q( s) k9 }. t. D- ?) C
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"It would be nice to have more space and to have another bathroom," she says.1 q0 h/ ~) m& a% s Y+ c7 T
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"But it does work out quite well. I don't regret it. But I don't want to do it for more than five years -- I don't think that anyone does."7 M2 C! `$ g3 D D( B1 M
© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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发表于 2007-5-20 07:27
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