TTS Student Housing Guide

Due to the limited number of on-campus beds, every year, returning students (2nd years and 3rd years) such as yourself are forced out from living within campus dorms into the surrounding areas to make way for incoming freshmen, which have an intake priority over campus residence. This page will serve as reference and guide to help you find a suitable home in Taman Tasik Semenyih (TTS).



Pre-Search Planning
Before you start your search, you are going to have to consider a couple of things:

First and foremost, consider the benefits of living in TTS with respect to other possible areas.

Living in TTS
 * 1) makes it convenient to get to/from campus (if you're a student or work on campus)
 * 2) helps save money on transportation, e.g. gas, parking, vehicle wear
 * 3) is safer than commuting after a late night
 * 4) provides lots of fun stuff to do & better social opportunities with like-minded people
 * 5) makes hooking up with friends way more convenient
 * 6) is riskier in terms of theft and break-ins.

Living elsewhere
 * 1) exposes you to more diverse populations
 * 2) additional shopping options
 * 3) offers cheaper rents in areas like Pelangi and Sunway
 * 4) usually provides abundant parking
 * 5) is quieter and more laid back

Living with Others
See Roommate Guide. If you're a student and getting ready to leave the residence halls, consider whether you want to live with housemates, roommates or by yourself. If you choose to live with housemates, start by figuring out how many people you can bear to live with, whether you want to live in a single-sex environment, and what the group dynamics might be. If you choose to live by yourself, start figuring out if you can actually afford to live by yourself (and not have roommates to split the bills).

Living in a House versus an Apartment

 * 1) Living in a house can be great because you have a nice noise buffer zone, but you'll also have to worry about yard maintenance if it isn't included in your rent. This is particularly true for houses in TTS 3 and TTS 7.
 * 2) Apartment complexes such as Tetris offer amenities such as a pool/spa, community room, and gym.
 * 3) Living in private homes with live in landlords has its benefits, but sometimes the negatives outweigh the positives. Live in landlords usually have washer and dryers, include all bills in the rent so you can accurately budget, etc. However, they tend to be anal about who comes over, what time you come home, how much electricity is used, etc. because they have a vested interest in the property. (Note: I would not choose this option again in the future. It's almost like having parents again, and you don't have the same power since you aren't equally responsible for the place, like when you share a lease equally with another roommate.)

Essentially, if you choose to rent an entire house or apartment rather than renting a room in an existing household, you get to choose who you want to live with. But this option also takes more coordination because you have to first figure out who you're compatible with and get everybody on board, then figure out what everybody wants out of a place to live [e.g. apartment or house, location, satellite or cable, etc.]. Once you find some places, you'll have to get everybody coordinated to be able to look at the place, or one person can do the initial look-see and trim it down for the others to check out later.

Choosing to rent a room in an existing household can be far easier on the front end, but you may find yourself working harder to fit into a group with previously established relationships and ways of doing things. If things aren't going well, this can become a problem and you can potentially find yourself odd-man out. Another plus to renting a room within a house is that you'll probably only have to furnish your own room... this can be a minus if you already have a lot of furniture that you want to keep, though.

Housing Standards
As a renter, you should be looking for a variety of things in an apartment, and should hold your (potential) landlord to a high standard:


 * 1) Maintenance requests should be resolved to your satisfaction within 24 hours (in some cases, a repair may reasonably take longer, but most requests should not).
 * 2) Maintenance issues arrive on the weekend 2/7 of the time. You should be able to get a maintenance issue resolved on the weekend, even if the complex does not consider it to be an emergency.
 * 3) The apartment should maintain an emergency maintenance line for hours that it is not open. Issues can come up 24 hours a day. That stopped up toilet won't fix itself at 9 at night, nor will your broken air conditioner turn on again at night. Keep in mind that even in a management office that maintains good hours, you are much more likely to have an issue when the office is closed than when it is open.
 * 4) The apartment should be available, clean, and ready for occupancy on the day that your lease begins. You are paying for it. You have a right to occupy it.
 * 5) You should be able to see the apartment before you sign your lease, or at least see a preview unit. It is important to know exactly what you are getting before you rent.
 * 6) There should be no signs of mold, water damage, poor maintenance, or pest infestations. Be sure to look around the faucets and window sills. Note that many complexes will simply paint or caulk over damage or mold, rather than repairing it.
 * 7) Examine the wall, ceiling, and floors for signs that damage has been patched over. Look for variations in the paint and texture.
 * 8) The management should treat you like an adult, and with respect. Do not rent from a manager who attempts to pressure you into signing a lease. Do not let a manager intimidate you when you have an issue.
 * 9) Many apartment managers will try to blame troubles with the apartment upon you, even when they are not your fault. While some issues truly *are* your fault, and you should deal with them appropriately, it is not appropriate for a manager to shift the blame for many problems onto you. Stand up to them, and don't let the do this.
 * 10) Quality of construction is important to your standard of living. If the walls are thin, you will hear your neighbors.
 * 11) Furnishings in many complexes also date back to the 1970s. Consider carefully whether that brown carpet and olive countertop are going to be nice to look at for the next year.
 * 12) Always take photos when you move in and move out. This is important for documenting any prior damage to the apartment, and can help you if you get into a dispute over your security deposit.
 * 13) The complex should be quiet at night (unless you really like noise). Bike by at night and see if you can hear noise from the apartments. If you can, this may not be the place for you.
 * 14) Space within the apartment should be sufficient to live comfortably. You need a certain amount of closet and shelf space. You need enough space to cook and study and live. Avoid complexes that do not provide this. Keep in mind that doors reduce the usable area within a room.
 * 15) Insist on a properly dimensioned floor plan. You need to know how your possessions will fit into your apartment. If you can't tell how big a room is, it is not properly dimensioned on the floor plan. Some floor plans show furniture such as couches, in order to make the apartment look spacious. Such furniture is usually quite a bit smaller than you would find in the real world, and the small scale of the furniture is used to deceive you. You should know the dimensions of all walls, not just one or two.
 * 16) Consider shopping for an apartment with friends. It is more difficult for a manager to make a promise that they can't keep if you have witnesses.
 * 17) Post your experiences in the here. Be sure to include your positive experiences too. Good complexes and managers should be rewarded. Bad ones should have a hard time attracting tenants.
 * 18) Ask tenants at a complex how they like living there, and what issues they have had. Do this without an apartment manager around, so that you can be assured of getting a truthful answer.
 * 19) Be sure that you can sublet. Most students leave Semenyih over the summer, so be sure that you aren't going to be stuck paying full price for the remaining 3 months.
 * 20) You should be able to switch your lease to month to month after your year lease is up. This gives you much more flexibility in when you move out, although you may have to pay more for month to month. Always favor apartments that let you go month to month - it will save you heartache later.

Issues that may arise while you are a resident

 * Noise, such as that from neighbors or from sources within your apartment, may present an issue depending on volume, frequency, and your sensitivity to it.
 * Stray dogs

Moving in
Apartment Move In Condition is the overall state of an apartment at the transition between leasing from one tenant to another. It is very important to carefully document the state of the dwelling before moving in, since a new tenant may be held liable for any damages that either occurred during their stay or assumed to have occurred during their stay, even if it was a pre-existing condition. If a landlord was unaware of the damage prior to your moving in and assumes that you caused the damage, the cost of repairs (beyond "normal wear and tear") may be deducted from your rental security deposit. Tips for documenting move-in condition

Don't move anything inside until you have looked over the entire apartment, at least once. Furniture or moving boxes may block problems on the floors or walls.

Go through, room-by-room with a digital camera and a condition report sheet. Take photos liberally, of anything that might be relevant. It's likely that your landlord will give you a condition report sheet to return to the rental agency. If your apartment has a balcony, storage area or yard, be sure to check these areas as well.

Turn all faucets/spigots, lights, and appliances on and off; make sure windows and doors lock/unlock; go around with a small lamp and plug it into each socket to make sure each socket receives power. Drapes and window treatments should be relatively clean.

Hold on to your condition report for a few days after moving in, or write down any new problems that may arise and call your landlord to amend the condition report to include additional preexisting damage. Be sure to sign and submit it within a week, though.

Expectations and move-in stories

When you move into a new apartment, your apartment may be in good condition, or not so good condition. Often, some things need fixing. With moving day coming up, it would be useful for people to document the condition of their apartment, both by listing what is right and wrong, and by posting photos of the apartment. This will provide a guide as to what to really expect when you move into a particular apartment, and will encourage apartment managers to ensure that they provide high quality living spaces for their residents (many of whom do not see the apartment before move in day). When you post your experience, please list the name of the apartment, the apartment size, and your experiences and photos.

Getting your security deposit back

 * 1) Document — keep your records and take clear, well-lit photos of the premises prior to moving in and before moving out. Use the move-in photos as reference for how well you need to clean when you move out. Give the landlord copies of the photos or do something else as proof you took those pictures upon move-in rather than at a later time. If you need something done during your tenancy, be sure to send your request in writing and keep a copy for yourself... paper trails are the only type documentation sure to hold up in court.
 * 2) Prepare — most landlords are happy to perform repairs during your tenure in the apartment. Get things repaired early, so that they won't become an issue near moving time.
 * 3) Be persistent, courteous, and professional

For everything else, return to the Guide