Columbus GA folks
 

So....I just accepted an offer for the job of my dreams in Columbus GA, and will be moving down that way. I start Oct 13, and my husband will have to stay behind to finish this semester at GPC before joining me and transferring to Columbus State in January. In the mean time, I'm looking for temporary housing while we shop for homes. I've found a couple of extended stay hotel type places online that look affordable - but I dont want something that is raunchy. Ideally, I'd like to just rent a room from someone on a temporary basis - 3 months or so.

With the exception of the interview last week, I've never really been to Columbus. Do any of you have any suggestions about the area? Know anybody who is selling a home, or looking for a temporary roommate? What can you tell me about the area? Thanks!

You might find something here:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/georgia/

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great! Thank you!

If there's a Membersearch on the AXID website, try looking for sisters.

Congratulations on your dream job!

If you just graduated, you might want to try to see if you you could find roommate or sublease situation using Columbus State as your base. I suggest this just because unless you have a lot of time to go down and look, I think telling the difference between nice, safe extended stay hotel for business people and sketchy, motel room rental by the week to crack heads might be hard online.

I lived at Fort Benning for 3 years and loved Columbus. It was really growing when I left. It's close to Atlanta, but not too close that you have to live with their traffic. The major employers are Aflac, Total Systems, and Ft. Benning defense contractors. Almost everyone I knew from town worked at one of those. (or the college). I wouldn't stay at a hotel south of exit 4 unless you are on the military base.

well...
 

Here's what I've tried so far....

I contacted the alumnae association for AXiD that's in Auburn, since that's only an hour away. I'm hoping I can connect with a sister, or a sister who knows somebody between Auburn and Columbus that I can meet and/or stay with.

I've been told that North Columbus is the "safer" side of town. Sucks because the hotel I found was definitely on the south side. Damn internet - made it sound like such a good deal too. :( I really am hoping to find something for about $400 a month if possible, since I still have to pay my rent for the apt my husband and I already have. Things are going to be tight for a little while, but we'll be able to make it work.

I looked at the Columbus State website last night at possible housing situations. Their website states that you have to be a student to live on campus, but I guess worse case scenario, if they have empty rooms they are trying to fill, maybe I can get lucky.

I wish there was a way for me to take advantage of military placement/housing help...but if you arent a retired veteran, the military doesnt do jack squat for you. I was a one-termer....

I also created an account on roommates.com, and found 5 potential roommates who were all military, and okay with a month to month short term situation, so I contacted them and I'm waiting to hear back. I've got enough time that if any of them sound like it might be okay, I can drive down one weekend before then to meet them and get a feel for the situation.

I hope I can find something! I cant afford to sit in a car for 5 hours a day to drive 270 miles round trip...and the gas...good grief! And no...the new job is not offering financial relocation assistance :( I wish they were, but I'm just thankful they offered me the job, because they very well could have offered to someone local to the area instead...

Have you looked on craigslist? I just took a look at the one for Columbus, GA and there might be something there, some are kind of funny though.

:o I tried! There was a lesbian couple that sounded kinda cool, so I emailed them 2 nights ago and they never even responded! I guess I wasn't their type....:p

I know you check hotels, was it something like Extended StayAmerica? I've been in a couple and they were always really nice rooms. They have 2 locations in Columbus

The one I was looking at was http://www.valueplace.com/ for $179 a week. Even still, that's a little more than I really can afford while continuing to pay my apt rent in Woodstock while my husband stays behind to finish the semester. It's on the south side of town - I'm still tempted to go down one weekend and check it out to see if I think it's going to be okay as a last resort if I absolutely have to...

We thought about getting out of the lease in Woodstock early and staying somewhere halfway, like Newnan, but we still have to give our apt complex 60 days notice, plus an extra months rent to break the lease. I dont start until October 13th at the new job, and he's done with classes on December 10th which is right at 2 months, so even that wont work.

This is going to be tougher than I thought :( Hopefully I'll hear back from the Auburn alumnae association soon...maybe somebody there will be able to help me....

Perhaps you can find an spouse of a deployed service member who lives off post. Our old babysitter is now married to a deployed 1LT. They bought a home and have a little toddler. Their mortgage was covered as his BAQ continues but she found a female roomie for the time until her h returns.

This deals mostly with renting entire homes: http://www.forsalebymilitary.net/search.asp

Can you get copies of the local Columbus and/or Ft Benning papers? They might have ads for roommates as well

Yeah, I'll have to check that out. I think I'm going to go down there this weekend to get a feel for the area, and see what info I can find.

Another option that I thought of this afternoon is that my apartment complex now is managed by mid-america, and there are two complexes down there that they manage. If I transfer communities, I only have to give a 30 day notice, and no fee for breaking the lease early, rather than 60 days notice, and an extra months rent.

My husband and i didnt really want another apartment lease - we want to find a house pretty quickly - but at the same time, I dont want to rush into a bad decision. So I'm going to discuss us possibly moving out of this apartment and him staying with family up here through december, rather than the other way around...I think we'll save more money that way...

*bump*

So I've been down here in Columbus for almost 2 weeks now (we just transfered our lease). LOVE LOVE LOVE my job, I'm beyond thrilled with it, and I really hope this is something I'm going to be able to make a career out of *grin*

In other news....I'm looking for a local greek store in the area. Where do the fraternities and sororities from CSU usually do their greek shopping? Yahoo yellow pages was not very helpful :( I'm betting the closest is probably in Auburn, but I wanted to see if anybody on here had any suggestions first...