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Creative Solutions: How'd they do it?
, t! ^0 W$ }% s. R; _Nothing says home like the living room couch
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Y! F0 f& \, G5 ], _Alexandra Zabjek
: r( g9 \$ x0 _$ SThe Edmonton Journal7 f) L g: f( L) S; M8 c/ r
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Sunday, May 20, 2007! l( z/ C4 W5 \. _
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' k9 h8 E3 a8 u; RStudent 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.6 y% R9 T% F5 g, x7 w5 ^$ _
& O- n) O) b4 U) K$ C nAt Steve Li's one-bedroom apartment near NAIT, the living room is a bedroom for his roommate, Bill Chadwick.
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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 $275 per month to put his bed in the living room.0 F% O6 F! |9 @8 b% \
" Z: [$ ~$ }# ~4 i( c# m1 z! b"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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- z( G# R& r. d8 pAfter 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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Sharing 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. B. `! b% C9 }
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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."! E* _" D3 \+ C. `8 b
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Splitting the rent on a one-bedroom apartment, however, make things much easier for students with limited budgets.0 o r( d- Y) o6 I2 V
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"I wouldn't say (it would be completely) unaffordable, but this way it's much more economical," he says. l5 |. u# o5 }, q! i+ q2 A- u
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SOMEONE IN THE BASEMENT TO HELP PAY THE MORTGAGE( h! a! H9 t- E
: G5 o. |. H" g. TWhen 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.. ?0 S5 ~- @' m
' O L) O( f5 h3 o) D"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."
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: c) p+ C/ s* ?/ {Their tenant pays $500 per month for the 750-square-foot suite. The money helps the couple pay down their mortgage more aggressively and provides a cushion in case either loses their job, says Crawshaw.
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2 ]. Z8 j+ ^/ C8 l. sThe arrangement has worked out well, especially because the tenant was already living in the house when they moved in and has proved to be a "fantabulous" tenant who often spends time gardening in the yard or raking leaves, says Crawshaw, 25.) |1 S- H5 l; |: B; L
, A: c3 l* M* u$ A5 ~. M. j" PThe 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.& C4 d5 t; A" Q9 f* x9 r3 d) z
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"It would be nice to have more space and to have another bathroom," she says.
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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."
/ e4 N" x* d! s' D" O* L© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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发表于 2007-5-20 07:27
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