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Creative Solutions: How'd they do it?. r, s- N; T4 O9 W* ^* Z" @; o
Nothing says home like the living room couch" g4 ?8 S2 m) ^0 \# G" h1 @: y8 o
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Alexandra Zabjek
3 d! \6 q1 V _The Edmonton Journal2 m. @$ E7 c. N9 [* J1 o3 ^& a
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Sunday, May 20, 20078 ?; R( z. y; S9 w* x9 u
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1 x1 _2 N" T: B8 iStudent 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.4 o- F( Y; j7 N, K4 o
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At Steve Li's one-bedroom apartment near NAIT, the living room is a bedroom for his roommate, Bill Chadwick.! X2 j; @: H- x6 d7 ]- `( |2 `4 ^
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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.
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! B/ y: d" d' K# j: l. H"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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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.
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# K* G7 q. L2 m. Z/ Y) r1 O1 ]4 F: n+ B"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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Splitting 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.
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SOMEONE IN THE BASEMENT TO HELP PAY THE MORTGAGE
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( f8 ?( k6 d g0 c6 d. z* xWhen 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.9 r- R" U4 ?. L; |! E1 O
$ E* C3 u! H9 n# t, ], \% @5 {7 T"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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. S+ @; l4 F7 y% VTheir 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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+ J& V- q. [! c3 T" nThe 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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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.4 Y7 d8 x9 F9 O8 O9 x% ^
$ K7 b% Q- u: S- V( o; g"It would be nice to have more space and to have another bathroom," she says.
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k3 `3 @! y7 |- }"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."
: H3 s7 O2 Z) ]- E' I1 j© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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发表于 2007-5-20 07:27
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