Here's the deal,

I have an internship for the summer in Maryland, and the place I'm working for offers zero housing assistance. To make it sucky, I haven't been able to find anywhere online to help me find anywhere decent to live there.

I really don't like the idea of just driving there, getting a local paper, and going apartment hunting while living out of a motel room.

So, if anyone out there has any experience with this, or has any suggestions for how to find a place to live, please let me hear your advice.

The summer before I graduated I worked for a company in Indiana that offered the same amount of help as you're getting. Luckily it was close enough that I could drive out there (bout 5 hours).

1. Have them mail you some newspapers. Anyone who wants you to work there can at least do that. Get some opinions from your contact about which areas are nicer.

2. Get the names of some real estate companies in the area and contact them as well.

3. Use the internet with websites like Rent.com. I found my current apartment off rent.com and managed to get a $100 prepaid visa card because of it.

It's may be hard to get a 3 month lease by yourself for the summer, but it's not impossible. I managed to rent a duplex with the other intern that was out there.

If you haven't done it already, try looking on yahoo yellow pages for their local newspapers. Maybe some of them will have online classifieds.

Some good info...

I think we need a sticky of some good info/topics for intern's, coop's and people getting that first job upon graduation.
To cover the little things after landing the job, that no one talks about.

Topics should include:
Housing
Bills
Budgets
perhaps purchasing a car or first major purchase....

Just a collection of websites and tips from other peoples experience would benefit, the majority of us.


Just my half a cent worth.....

Thats a pretty good idea, sort of learn from others who have already done it.

EDIT: Sorry for the double post, that snowball effect strikes again

Thanks to everyone for the ideas.

And yes, a sticky post about this kind of stuff would probably be helpful to just about anyone who ends up getting an intern/co-op/whatever.

Try http://www.craigslist.org ...but with caution.

Do an online phone book search for realtors in the area. Explain your situation and be honest. Tell them you're looking for a three or four month lease on a property close to your work (if that's what you want). I'd think they'd ought to be able to help you out.

Look for the city's Chamber of Commerce site, sometimes they have useful information about the area, even more than just housing opportunities.

Request (or get someone else to) a paper phonebook from the area. Long distance carriers will mail you phonebooks from other service areas for free, though they limit you to two or three a year.

Above all, start doing your research now. Moving day will come faster than you imagine. Good luck on your internship!

Also...how close is your job to Washington DC? If you're right on the Potomac, you've got some other issues to worry about.