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Creative Solutions: How'd they do it? v& \& v, e2 H0 e7 C+ @
Nothing says home like the living room couch
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Alexandra Zabjek
2 x' {: x8 `: L' I$ hThe Edmonton Journal5 F! c+ Q2 s, q) ?
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Sunday, May 20, 2007/ b* K. c0 o" g
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* n$ Z& }6 \* `% h. b' k5 GStudent 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.. z9 O! q# Q% {
1 b/ a: h k& u/ WAt 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 $275 per month to put his bed in the living room.
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* J" c" ]' b$ i"I receive approximately $700 per month (in grants) to go to school," says Chadwick, 32. "So when $275 comes into the picture, it works out quite well."6 ~3 |; j6 B3 a+ }% }, X
7 v8 `" c: u6 j! X2 K7 pAfter spending time couch-surfing with friends, Chadwick says having a "defined space" is great, even if it isn't a proper bedroom.2 f2 U0 F# k) o& r, e+ x$ t1 |
8 F. p3 @7 O+ }' hSharing 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./ N7 A- d( |3 E5 L, Y
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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."3 W0 K( s3 V* X( `9 q0 b
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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.8 N# u/ \# u) U: m5 \
- V) s& y4 C* H3 xSOMEONE IN THE BASEMENT TO HELP PAY THE MORTGAGE/ ]- G* a* \) J' C- A, q; H: @
8 W) r: h% w$ p; J0 Q L7 eWhen 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.
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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."
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& D9 G5 [: V) {; q9 MTheir tenant pays $500 per month for the 750-square-foot suite. The money helps the couple pay down their mortgage more aggressively and provides a cushion in case either loses their job, says Crawshaw.3 e% T+ w# M: ~ n/ Q" u
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The arrangement has worked out well, especially because the tenant was already living in the house when they moved in and has proved to be a "fantabulous" tenant who often spends time gardening in the yard or raking leaves, says Crawshaw, 25.' c5 F% d. E ~4 I( T/ I1 Q' |$ E
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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.
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"It would be nice to have more space and to have another bathroom," she says.
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+ k5 B8 [1 P e"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.", O0 U: [' w8 m, i3 n! `
© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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发表于 2007-5-20 07:27
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