They say that a wise person doesn't have to wait until something happens to them for them to learn a lesson; they learn from other people's mistakes.
photo by Photos_frompasttofuture
When my dad was trying to open his church, he had gotten some land during the dry season and began to build on it. And when it got to the rainy season, he realized he had made a big mistake because the land happened to be a place that usually got flooded during the rainy season, so he had to build tiny little bridge-like structures to help him and everyone else to go to the church and also leave the church.
Ever since that happened, I learned a valuable lesson, and that was never to go house hunting during the dry season because the house might look good, but the roads leading to the house could be a mess when it starts to rain due to no drainage system being in the area.
Unfortunately for me, though, living in a student area like this, you really won't be able to tell if the roads get bad when it rains because most people only go house-hunting during December, as that is when the academy year comes to an end and when most students tend to vacate their hostels.
Anyway, aside from that, there are a few other things you have to be on the lookout for when trying to move into a new building in a student environment. Personally, the first thing I like to look out for is the water situation. I'd like to know if the hostel has its own personal generator that can be used to pump water because depending on the power company here is a waste of time.
And even when they do have a generator, I look to check if they have a nearby shop where I can buy water (people here sell water that you can use to bathe and cook due to how poor the power supply is) because the generator won't always be active; there will be a time when it will need to be serviced, and what if I need water then? What will I do?
Another thing I look out for is the location of the hostel. Having spent years here, I know different areas and what they're infamous for. There are places that are frequented by the police, places that are dominated by cultists, and all that. So I try to avoid these places, but unfortunately, I can only do that because I already know these places. For people who don't already know these places, they don't always get so lucky unless they maybe already have friends living in the area who are familiar with these things.
The last thing I always make sure to check is that the owner of the home doesn't live in the same hostel. And this is because, based on experiences that my friends have had, it is never a good idea to live in a building with the landlord or his relatives, because they will want to control you and everything you do.
These are the three main things that I can think of now that I always make sure to look out for when moving to a new place in this area.