What do you look for in housing?

[MAT Nurse in NC, RN]

For those experienced in travel assignments, please tell me what you look for in housing. What are your must-have features, preferred locations, general preferences? Tell me about the best experience you have had with housing while on assignment!

[NO JOKES OR PUNS ALLOWED, BSN, RN]

This is such a good thread.  I can't believe it got missed.  I've done a decent amount of travel and I've stayed in great places...  And I've also rented a room in a crack house.  Learn from my mistakes!

The things I thought were deal breakers for me have changed, but YMMV.  Let's start with price point:

The goal of the housing stipend, for me, is to put some of it in my pocket.  You are going to probably pay a little above market rent.  (Don't go higher than 10% is a good rule of thumb.)  Asking around on Reddit and facebook is a good idea, especially in city specific groups.  Looking at someone's post history is pretty good for at least getting some kind of feel.

I don't mind roommates.  I tend to skew towards LGBTQ roommates and more liberal, artsy types and religious, family and service-oriented type people.  If volunteering is a huge part of someone's life, we're usually a good match.  It sounds counter-intuitive, but the kinds of people who really believe in bettering their community, whether it's because of their faith or because of being a minority, they're kind of cut from the same cloth.  If they're the former kind of people, I will ask questions like if they like PNP (party and play) so I don't come off as snobby.  (Party and play refers to sex and hard drugs and a certain lifestyle that doesn't gel with mine.  I don't want someone bringing in a new person they don't know every night and doing coke and screaming at each other while I'm trying to sleep.)  I lived in a place that was a pretty nice house, and the owner didn't live there, but several of his relatives did, and their MO was to get coked up, drunk, and do some really weird African witchcraft ceremonies.  

One of my favorite roommates was a pansexual girl who was living in this weird voluntary slave situation with her boyfriend.  They respected my limits and didn't drag me into their stuff.  Another was a lovely English Christian couple who were the best people you could ask for.

Learning to ask the right questions like, "What do you do for fun?" is helpful. "We like spending time with our grandchildren," is quite a bit better than, "I like to get riggety WRECKED, son."

The other end of that is living with the kinds of people who flip out if you come in and mention you had a couple mimosas at brunch and demand you move your stuff out immediately.  

I've NEVER had good luck with Furnished Finders, but AirBNB has been pretty good.

Private bathrooms were once something I believed I needed.  They're a really nice luxury, but not worth the money in most cases.  I probably have a private bathroom maybe a third of the time.  I am absolutely someone who needs a private bedroom.  Can't couchsurf, even if I'm staying with saints. Know what you can live with.  If you can tolerate couchsurfing when you're working and just get a nice hotel room for a night or two here and there, you can make bank.

Laundry is another issue.  I don't have the luxury of time when I'm working to hang out at a laundromat.  Those mini washers on Amazon are lifesavers.   Just read the reviews.  If you have a private bath, but no washer access, this is ideal.  

I have a lot of weird stuff I've learned over the years, but I'm going to stop screaming into the void for now and see if anyone sees value in this before I keep on.

[Idaho_nurse]

I travel with my large German Shepherd, so my wants and needs when it comes to housing, may be different than most.  I value privacy, and quiet, so I will only rent where my dog is allowed and have the entire place to myself.  Probably due to my entire life being lived in rural area's, I do NOT want to listen to loud neighbors, screaming, yelling, potential unsafe area's, etc, so I try to find some place that fits me and my dog.  

I do bring alot of my own things (heck, if your going to be away from home for an extended time, I want my creature comforts)  coffee pot, blankets, pillows, sometimes linen and bath towels.  The TV is a huge deal as it MUST have an hdmi port.  I bring my own wifi hotspot and watch streaming video.  

 

A washer/dryer is important.  While not a deal breaker if there isn't one, having to go to a laundry mat to wash your scrubs weekly is a nightmare.  

I've used furnished finder, airbnb and hotels.com to find furnished short term rentals.  if need be, I'll hotel it for a couple weeks until I can meet my co-workers and start asking about any housing that might be available.  I've gotten leads from the hospital's admin or foundation, especially in places where rentals are scarce, its rural and they tend to use alot of travel staff.