Help! Need housing in Hattiesburg, MS
 

My son finishes college this week and has a job in Hattiesburg. They are eager for him to start ASAP. However, he has been told by all the real estate agents that there is a 3-4 month waiting list, due to the Katrina castastrophe.

Anyone know of someone with a room or house to rent?

I've heard there are a bunch of unused FEMA trailers sitting in a lot somewhere. He could use one of those. :)

I'm joking of course. Does his employer have any leads or suggestions? I would suspect they understand the situation so they should be willing to give him a bit of extra time to look. Maybe I'm being naive, but it would seem that the area around USM would have some openings soon for summer sublets. college students should be headed out of town and looking for someone to rent out a room or apartment for the summer. Maybe he should pick up the student paper if he can, or talk to an apartment search company in the campus area. This might be a really bad idea, but maybe some of the frats have extra room over the summer too.

Thanks, I had suggested the campus thing to him as well.

http://www.rentalguideapartments.com/

This website had a fair number of places listed. I don't know how current it is, but it's a start.

Thanks again! I sent him the link and also the idea to pick up a campus paper tomorrow, while he is there looking.

This was the son's response to have you checked out (the above link)?
"Yes. There are NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Apartments, houses, trailers, tents, holes, cardboard boxes or anywhere else to rent in the entire area."

So what's a poor lad to do?

I don't know. That site says there are 52 available apartments, but it could be out of date.

I still think there's going to be some openings when students leave for the summer. I can understand things being tight right now, but most evacuees would be looking to move back home, not into student housing for the summer.

Other than that, depending on how much time he has, he could drive around campus area (and other areas) and just look for for rent signs. I'm not saying he's lying, I just find it hard to believe that there's absolutely nothing in the entire city .Is he being picky, in terms of price and quality, and is that why he's not finding anything? The local newspaper (Hattiesburg American) has 11 listings. There's gotta be smaller papers that have stuff listed too.

If he's finding nothing at all, he has to talk to his employer and ask for help.

Even if none of my suggestions help, at least it's keeping the thread near the top. :)

Old Southern Belle,

I don't mean to be a pessimist, but I think it will be extremely difficult for your son to find housing in Hattiesburg. Many of the people that lost their homes in Biloxi, Gulfport, and Pass Christian went to Hattiesburg.

I would see if his company could help him find a place, possibly just a room to rent for the time being.

Old Southern Belle,

I answered you on TTG. You can send me an email there if you want more information.

Thanks!

Okay, that's one I don't know . . . what's TTG??!! Thanks!

Good luck, Belle! My dd is going thru the exact same thing in New Orleans. Graduates in May, NO housing, or at least nothing affordable in the real world. Please let us know how things work out.

travelerstogo.com, to answer you're question. Thanks for the good wishes.

I hope he has better luck in Picayune, McNeill, Purvis, Poplarville, etc, but southwest Mississippi and southeast Louisiana are all in the same boat as Hattiesburg. There just aren't any places to rent, and if you find one, the price is going to be astronomical. Again, I truly hope he gets lucky and finds something soon!

Did your son find a place to live? I asked about Picayune rentals and what people said was that the nice duplexes probably have a 3-4 month waiting list, but he might be able to get an apartment more quickly.

My friend who owns low-income rental housing says he will have a place available next week in Picayune. This would probably be a trailer or not so great small house. So if your son would be interested, I will give you contact info.

Thanks! He has found temporary housing. Hopefully he will be able to find more permanent housing once he starts his job there. He really hopes to find something in Hattiesburg.