For $1200, you won't be able to live on your own in biking distance of MIT. You might be able to find a crappy studio for $1600. $1800, you might find a more acceptable studio or a 1-bedroom. At $1200, your best hope is a room in a 2 bed, 2 bath...

Other notes: most of Somerville and Cambridge are bikeable to MIT or close to the red line. Anything close to the red line, you can take the train easily. Any other T line will get you there, but it'll take significantly longer since you'll have to transfer, or Lechemere on the green line will be maybe a 20 minute walk. Allston has a lot of apartment buildings, and is bikeable to MIT, and you can find some places there on the cheaper side.

>I'd love any advice on how to maximize my chances of landing a good deal.

add another thousand bucks to your maximum price, and lower all of your expectations

nice

I think that under $2000 for a studio is going to be quite difficult to find in Cambridge. I paid about $1500 for a studio in Cambridge 6 years ago and that was MIT-subsidized housing (for grad students, unfortunately I don't think they have anything for postdocs). I think finding a cheaper 2 bed is significantly more do-able (could be easily <$1500/person). That being said, there are always occasionally random deals that pop up, but they'll often get snapped up extremely quickly. Places to look include East Cambridge and Alewife, also try looking in Somerville and if you're okay with a longer commute maybe look in like Allston or Dorchester/Roxbury? I know some folks who live there who have insanely cheap (to me as someone who lives in Cambridge) rent.

In my experience, prices tend to bottom out for leases starting June 1, but that was pre-pandemic so ymmv nowadays. You're going to have a hard time finding a place that meets both your price + QoL requirements -- studios are easily ~$2k these days, and a 2br/2ba is $3500+. Allston/Brighton might be an option, given your willingness to bike, and while we're flatter than Seattle, we're much colder and our precipitation tends to accumulate a little more.

You're going to need a roommate. Cambridge is one of the most expensive small cities in the country, and much more expensive than Seattle.

This post has lived rent free in my head all afternoon… like how do you have 0 furniture? Where do you put your clothes? Where do you eat? Where do you put anything? Is it a personal choice?

Not trying to make fun of you just genuinely curious how this works.

MIT should have some resources to assist you. However, you might be dealing with a roommate situation with your budget.

Roomie up

I moved here for grad school from Palo Alto expecting the rent to be even a tad bit lower, but boy was I mistaken. For $1200/month I’d rule out the possibility of finding a solo living situation. Besides — the relocation expenses could be exorbitant as the rental market is extremely disadvantageous towards renters. Feel free to DM if you need more advice as to how to start apartment-shopping.

Whatever you decide make sure you have 4X of the rent up front bc landlords typically want first, last, and security deposit which is fine but something that was a rude shock to me was the broker's fee which was not avoidable even if I found the listing myself online. That one is just gone forever with no chance of getting it back. Top floor units are vacant far less than bottom floor for the noise issue. Top floor also tends to have better "perks" in multifamily homes bc you get private attic storage and everyone below you heats your apartment floors. That being said, noise is the nature of housing in Cambridge. Everything is old as fuck and there is no sound padding. Get a good pair of headphones or some white noise machines (we have them naturally bc I'm allergic to cats yet own one so I have air purifiers everywhere).

Hi there! I just sent you a PM about an apartment that checks quite a few of your boxes. I'd love to chat further!

You need to make some tweaks to the wish list