Are you a new UC Merced student looking for a place to live? You found the right blog post!
First off, congratulations on your acceptance to UC Merced and welcome to Merced!
As the youngest UC campus, UC Merced is growing up quick and already catching up with the older UC siblings (ranked top 100 in US New & World Report in 2021). If you work hard and leverage your opportunities, you will find no shortage of resources that will help you succeed here.
Merced, although a unremarkable city, does offer perks in terms of housing. Housing is cheap! Prices for a single room range from $300 - $800, and most graduate students usually spend about $500-$600 for off-campus housing. If you are willing to spend about $1000, you can easily get yourself a 1 bed 1 bath apartment.
Update (Aug 2021): Rent prices have increased and continue to increase due to the housing shortage in Merced. Still, they are cheaper than other cities like San Diego.
That said, it is not necessarily straightforward to find a suitable place to live, especially if you are unfamiliar with the city. This blog post briefly introduces the neighborhoods in Merced and provides resources for your housing search.
A Map of Merced
There are four main neighborhoods where students like to live:
Bellevue
Moraga
El Redondo
Fahren's Park
Generally, it is safer to live closer to the UC Merced campus and further away from downtown Merced. You can check out the crime activity in different neighborhoods by visiting the online crime mapping website created by the Merced Police Department (https://www.crimemapping.com/).
Bellevue and Moraga, the closest neighborhoods to campus (only about 8-10 minutes drive away), are often regarded as the best locations in terms of safety and convenience. Raley's is the closest grocery store for these two neighborhoods.
If you live further away from campus, I recommend living in a gated community.
Resources for Housing & Roommates
UC Merced Off-Campus Housing Website
This is the off-campus housing database from the UC Merced Student Housing Office.
Available rooms/apartments for rental are listed here. You can also create a roommate profile for yourself and search for potential housemates and/or roommates.
Facebook Groups
UC Merced Classifieds
You can find rooms for rent, ads for roommates, and all sorts of items/services for sale here.
UC Merced Student Rent Share
This group was primarily created for UC Merced students (undergrad and grad) to find housing options, roommates, and/or housemates.
Merced Social Graduate Students
*for graduate students only*
Although this group is self-described as “an event forum for UC Merced graduate students who want to socialize,” you can still join even if you do not wish to socialize (if you are an introvert!). This group is primarily used to spread information and resources for graduate students and post ads for houses/roommates. If you need to reach out to other grad students about anything (e.g. if you need a car), this is the place to post it.
Websites with House/Apartment Rental Listings
If you found some friends/strangers to search for a place together, you can start with these websites that list houses/apartments for rent.
ForRent.com (https://www.forrent.com/find/CA/metro-Fresno/Merced)
Apartments.com (https://www.apartments.com/merced-ca/)
Craigslist (https://merced.craigslist.org/)
Spreadsheet of Apartments in Merced
While he was looking for housing options, my friend Maverick Oh created a spreadsheet that surveys 19 different apartment complexes in Merced. He has kindly agreed to share this resource on my blog to reach more students in need.
This spreadsheet includes details such as prices, Google review ratings, some comments from reviews or friends living there, and even the year the complex was built. Note: He created this spreadsheet around May 2021, so be aware that some things may have changed since then.
(File will be added soon)
Personally, I have visited and inquired about 10 different apartment complexes in Merced (around June 2021). Here are some comments I have based on my experiences:
Village Terrace, Village Landing, and Northwood Village are managed by the same company. They are probably the best (in the order they are listed here) apartments in Merced in terms of location, amenities, environment, and management. The only(?) con is that they are expensive compared to other apartments.
Bear Creek North, Bear Creek Manor & Terrace, and Bear Creek Park (located near downtown Merced) are managed by the same company. The spots are quite competitive because their prices are cheaper.
I found out about Brookdale Manor Apartments through some friends who are living there. Although it is not very well advertised (no website at the time), I felt that the location, safety, and price range hit the right balance. The manager was also very kind. Feel free to contact her by phone/email!
Overall, it's a good idea to start your housing search early. Shortlist the most appropriate options, call/email/visit for more information, and apply for the wait-list to a few places. There are different wait-list systems at different apartments. For some apartments, it is better to call the manager somewhat frequently (once/twice a week) to ask if any new spots opened up; this will get the manager to notice you and he/she might give you any new information earlier than other applicants. Make sure to ask about their wait-list policy during your inquiry.
Property Management Companies in Merced
I found my current house by emailing a property management company in Merced that rents out houses. If you have a group of friends to live with, you can search for places by calling/emailing some property management companies in Merced and asking if they have any houses available for rent within your preferred price range.
As I was successful in my first attempt at contacting a property management company, I cannot vouch for other companies except the one my house is currently under (Merced Property Management, MPM).
Here is the contact information of Merced Property Management.
Phone: 209-722-2969
Email: mercedpm2005@gmail.com
Address: 388 East Yosemite Ave. Suite 200-I, Merced, CA 95340.
Other Methods
If you are an incoming graduate student, you might get some leads by emailing your new lab members or even your advisor about potential housing options. Older graduate students may know of friends (or friends of friends) who are currently looking for new housemates.
With all of this information at hand, I believe you will be able to find some good leads and eventually a nice place to live here in Merced. If you would like a checklist of things to consider for your housing, you can check out my other blog post here.
Wishing you a smooth house-hunting experience!