How can I find housing that is inconvenient to the Cornell campus?

May 26, 2009 6:27 PM

We are looking for (rental) housing between Ithaca and Syracuse -- it doesn't need to be convenient to Cornell or on a bus line, etc., but we only have a small window to look onsite (starting ~Jun5th) and we need to move in by Jun 21st. Can anyone recommend a realtor, etc. that could help us out or recommend a better strategy for looking than craigslist?

I have a job near Ithaca, while my husband will be working in Syracuse. We'd prefer to live somewhere rural that might be a little further from my job to be a little closer to his. So we started looking in the Ithaca area and figured we'd aim for somewhere on the outskirts.

It seems that most landlords are pushing their convenient-to-campus properties, however, and probably charging more based on amenities (location, bus routes, etc.) that we don't want. We can afford a bit more than the average student, and the further we are towards rt. 90 or rt. 81, the better, so we'd love to find a house so situated. I've found a few such properties here and there, but I'm wondering if I'm going about my search wrong (I've been primarily looking on craigslist). Any tips? I've found a thread about housing in Ithaca before, but it was aimed towards helping a student find housing convenient to campus.

posted by Tandem Affinity to home & garden (7 comments total)

Have you tried looking in Cortland area? Easy to get right on 81 from there and not too far from Ithaca either.
posted by stefnet at 6:59 PM on May 26

You really want to be northeast of Ithaca if you're looking for convenience to RT-81.

As stefnet said, Cortland is a safe bet and it is pretty much the halfway point; if you don't mind going more small town, Dryden is about halfway between Ithaca and Cortland, and is not so bad. Groton is also an option, although I haven't been there in years.

If you really want to be closer to Syracuse than Ithaca, you could look at the north end of Cayuga lake - Waterloo, Seneca Falls, and maybe Auburn. But having lived in the Ithaca area for most of my life, and having been in Syracuse plenty, you're more likely to enjoy being closer to Ithaca than vice versa.

As far as looking locally, I'd find a realtor/rental agent in Cortland or Dryden, since I'm sure they cover a lot of ground in neighboring areas. Alternately, the Ithaca Times classifieds tend to cover real estate that's not necessarily in Ithaca.

(As much as I would like to recommend my hometown of Trumansburg, it's on the wrong side of the lake.)
posted by Remy at 7:10 PM on May 26

I was out in Groton a bunch last year volunteering. I'm a big city guy, but I didn't find it particularly appealing as far as towns go.

I would try contacting landlords directly and asking about their more distant properties. From my experience, lots of landlords in the area have many properties--the ones near campus are the most heavily advertised. A would look at the Ithaca Journal as well.

Finally, do consider buying as an option. As I understand it, real estate in the more rural areas is dirt cheap right now. Even if it doesn't appreciate much in value, it's definitely worth a look and may give you more options than renting.

Good luck and welcome to the area!
posted by zachlipton at 8:12 PM on May 26

yes, Cortland sounds good, as do those other locations suggested by Remy. Especially the more rural ones.... But I'm running into the problem of finding either no listings for these areas, or just listings with phone numbers and very little info online. Since our window to go looking onsite is so short, I'm trying to be as efficient as possible about my online research ahead of time.

we actually both grew up in Syracuse, although we have been away for all of our adult lives (hence why I'm a little lost about the best way to go about renting around here -- it's been a different beast in the other places that we've lived), and I do agree that we'll be happier closer to Ithaca than to Syracuse...

The suggestion of the Ithaca Times is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for -- I don't know the names of local papers or whether there are some other 'databases' I could start at. Doing a general search for things like 'Tompkins County house rental' or the like turns up many generic non-local sites with absolutely no usefulness. I also emailed a realtor with our specific wishes (and a request for them to refer me to a different firm if they don't handle rentals -- I figure they should know who does if they don't), so hopefully that will pan out too. Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll be grateful for any further info!
posted by Tandem Affinity at 8:13 PM on May 26

Also, don't rule out the Cornell Off-Campus Housing Database. It lists properties out in Dryden, Varna, Lansing, Groton, etc..., not just near campus, and will give you names and numbers of landlords to contact who may have other properties that meet your needs.
posted by zachlipton at 8:15 PM on May 26

Have you looked at Troy? It's a bit NW of Cortland so maybe too inconvenient, but it definitely meets requirements for "more rural." A friend of mine in undergrad was from that area; I could ping him and see if his family knows of any rental-hunting resources up that way, if you want.
posted by Alterscape at 11:29 PM on May 26

thanks, zachilpton, for the further suggestions, and thanks to alterscape for the offer, but Troy is actually several hours from the area I'm interested (v. convenient to Albany though...).
posted by Tandem Affinity at 6:03 AM on May 27