Any University Accommodation that doesn't require you to pay upfront? (1 Viewer)

[Fake-Name]

Hey, I was interested in living on Campus for 2012 at Macquarie. However after doing some research I saw that it said:

"Above prices are based on rental per week and in Australian Dollars (AUD) and required to be paid in full up front."

I didn't believe that this meant that I'd need to pay $190x52 up front, so I emailed the helpline and got this response:

"Yes, accommodation fees are required to be paid upfront. If you book a full year rate though, you can pay 50% before moving in and 50% at the end of semester 1 (June)."

There's no way I could ever pay $4940 upfront. I was relying on paying the weekly $190 much like any rental place.

Is this common to expect to pay your rent all up front?
Is there any alternative but to live in private housing that only requires weekly rent?

Thanks.

 

[Atlas]

Hey, I was interested in living on Campus for 2012 at Macquarie. However after doing some research I saw that it said:

"Above prices are based on rental per week and in Australian Dollars (AUD) and required to be paid in full up front."

I didn't believe that this meant that I'd need to pay $190x52 up front, so I emailed the helpline and got this response:

"Yes, accommodation fees are required to be paid upfront. If you book a full year rate though, you can pay 50% before moving in and 50% at the end of semester 1 (June)."

There's no way I could ever pay $4940 upfront. I was relying on paying the weekly $190 much like any rental place.

Is this common to expect to pay your rent all up front?
Is there any alternative but to live in private housing that only requires weekly rent?

Thanks.

I didn't know that they required upfront payment. You can try searching for private accommodation around the university area, you can start with this site: http://find.accommodation.mq.edu.au/

Also, have a look at other rental property sites. There are also lots of rooms advertised informally on campus noticeboards etc throughout the semester, so you might want to drop by and have a look. If you know any others wanting to live near uni, you can also share a place with them.

 

[Fake-Name]

I didn't know that they required upfront payment. You can try searching for private accommodation around the university area, you can start with this site: http://find.accommodation.mq.edu.au/

Also, have a look at other rental property sites. There are also lots of rooms advertised informally on campus noticeboards etc throughout the semester, so you might want to drop by and have a look. If you know any others wanting to live near uni, you can also share a place with them.

Thanks for the link. It looks like that's what I'm going to have to do.

 

[izzy88]

Most colleges that I know of require students to pay up front - although how much upfront differs. The college I went to invoiced semester 1 in about march, and semester 2 in about august I think. The college my sister attended for a year required upfront in about December the previous year.

However, some colleges can be flexible with payment, especially if you show them your needs/requirements. I don't think this will necessarily be shown on their websites, but if you actually talk to them they might be able to sort stuff out. I'm pretty sure there were some flexible payment methods for some people at my college, however it wasn't advertised very much.

 

[ajdlinux]

At ANU most people pay fortnightly. I don't know how Sydney unis can get away with requiring a semester in advance - it makes it way harder for people from less well-off backgrounds.

 

[izzy88]

At ANU most people pay fortnightly. I don't know how Sydney unis can get away with requiring a semester in advance - it makes it way harder for people from less well-off backgrounds.

Its cheaper overall to pay in advance though right? (if you have the money to) I remember seeing one of the ANU college payment forms once - they are a lot more flexible regarding payment then the usyd colleges (at least on paper anyway). However as I said earlier, I suspect the usyd colleges may have other options if you talk to them personally - they may not advertise it, but I think there are different options if you need it.

I suspect one of the reasons the colleges ask students to pay upfront is that they don't want people leaving with 1 weeks notice or something, and not being able to fill a room. I do know of students that get to uni for the first time, don't like it, can't cope, decide they want a gap year or whatever and then drop out before the census date (and I know of college kids that have done this - actually that was how I got in - I replaced someone that dropped out of uni 4 weeks into semester 2. And you have to be enrolled at uni to live at college). Although, with the demand that the colleges have, I don't think there's generally much problem with getting replacements in.

 

[ajdlinux]

Its cheaper overall to pay in advance though right? (if you have the money to) I remember seeing one of the ANU college payment forms once - they are a lot more flexible regarding payment then the usyd colleges (at least on paper anyway).

Not here... which removes the one incentive anyone would have to pay upfront anyway.

I suspect one of the reasons the colleges ask students to pay upfront is that they don't want people leaving with 1 weeks notice or something, and not being able to fill a room. I do know of students that get to uni for the first time, don't like it, can't cope, decide they want a gap year or whatever and then drop out before the census date (and I know of college kids that have done this - actually that was how I got in - I replaced someone that dropped out of uni 4 weeks into semester 2. And you have to be enrolled at uni to live at college). Although, with the demand that the colleges have, I don't think there's generally much problem with getting replacements in.

There is very little problem with finding replacements. In any case, they can just put a clause in the contract saying that if they don't find a replacement, you remain liable for the rest of the year.

 

[xeuyrawp]

As a gender rule, you don't really want to be staying in accommodation that doesn't make you pay upfront.

 

[Atlas]

As a gender rule, you don't really want to be staying in accommodation that doesn't make you pay upfront.

Gender? I don't know whether to interpret this as a sexist statement or just simply a typo?

 

[ajdlinux]

As a general rule, you don't really want to be staying in accommodation that doesn't make you pay upfront.

Guess I and the other 4,000 residential students here are just lucky.

 

[izzy88]

Guess I and the other 4,000 residential students here are just lucky.

I'm pretty sure one of the ANU colleges I know requires upfront payment in like December prior to the academic year (my sister had some difficulties getting it back when she transferred uni's). I think it really is up to the individual colleges.

 

[ajdlinux]

I'm pretty sure one of the ANU colleges I know requires upfront payment in like December prior to the academic year (my sister had some difficulties getting it back when she transferred uni's). I think it really is up to the individual colleges.

No, the worst we have is monthly payments at John XXIII (though why anyone would want to stay there is beyond me). All the University-owned halls have tariffs set centrally, and the two independent colleges still don't require up-front payment. You can pay up-front if you want, but that would be totally unaffordable for quite a lot of residents here.

So are up-front payments the norm everywhere else? :/

 

[izzy88]

So are up-front payments the norm everywhere else? :/

Definitely the norm for usyd colleges.

to be honest, since the majority are from private schools, I don't think some parents think its that much different from paying private school fees up front (except college is actually cheaper)...

 

[ajdlinux]

to be honest, since the majority are from private schools, I don't think some parents think its that much different from paying private school fees up front (except college is actually cheaper)...

At least some of whom are from private schools in Sydney, living with family in Sydney, and thus not needing to move for uni, but still deciding to take up space that could be used by regional students who would benefit much more.