Short term housing in the University of Miami (FL) area?

December 22, 2016 8:41 PM

Any advice on how to go about finding short term, furnished housing in the Coral Gables/Coconut Grove/Dadeland area?

I'm spending a semester at the University of Miami this spring, and I'm looking for a quiet, nicely furnished, short-term studio or 1 bedroom apartment in the Coral Gables/Coconut Grove/Dadeland area for ~$1500 a month (willing to go up to $2000 if necessary, but I'd rather not). I'm willing to consider any location within a 15 minute commute by car from the university.

This has proven a surprisingly difficult thing to find: I've spoken to a number of realtors (everyone seems to have their favorite realtor) and trolled Craigslist, UM off-campus housing, sublet.com, apartmentfinder.com, and Airbnb without much success. My major constraint is needing a short-term lease (ideally 5 months or less for the academic semester); most places want a year. The places I've found have either been a) too far from the university or b) kinda crappy for the price. I was in talks to rent a little in-law unit in Coral Gables which fell through, but something similar would be great.

But I understand as someone searching from afar and unfamiliar with the area I'm working at a disadvantage. So please, give my your secrets as locals. Are there websites or people I'm unaware of that could help out? Do you know any potential leads yourself? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Please feel free to PM me if you prefer.

posted by crazy with stars to Home & Garden (2 answers total)

Have you considered Little Gables/Little Havana? This is the neighborhood I lived in during law school at UM. Most of the owners in that area are older Cuban/Cuban Americans with smaller homes and might be open to something short term. Your best bet here is to just drive the neighborhood looking for "For Rent" signs.

I'd also go directly to some of the graduate/medical/law school buildings and place ads there.

Good luck. It's a gorgeous area.
posted by nubianinthedesert at 10:35 AM on December 23, 2016

For future reference, if anyone else is dealing with a similar situation: I ultimately found on Craigslist a lovely garden cottage in the backyard of a family home in Coral Gables at my price point. The realtors by and large were pretty useless: I think Craigslist and the UM off-campus housing list are your best bets.
posted by crazy with stars at 1:12 PM on January 22, 2017