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Housing Tips

 

Another crucial aspect of the ski and snowboard team management is finding adequate team housing in Mammoth Lakes. Finding a house can be tricky in that many potential landlords do not want to rent to a college team. However, by looking for a house early in the season and exploring all possible options, it is possible to find a good team house. Many teams do not identify themselves as a ski team and instead identify themselves as individuals when they are looking for housing.

 

Here are some ideas for housing:

  • Place a classified as in the Mammoth Times or Craigslist “Want to Rent” section of the paper that says you are looking for a short term lease during the winter months. The Mammoth Times is a weekly community newspaper that comes out every Thursday in Mammoth Lakes. This is a great resource for checking For Rent ads as well. You can view the current classifieds online at www.mammothtimes.com.

  • Contact a local Mammoth Lakes realty office for a list of rental units. Many times a condo or house that is for sale is also available for a short term lease while it is on the market. This can be a great opportunity to obtain housing at a reduced price and not be locked into a long term lease.

  • Consider sharing a house/condo with other ski and snowboard teams in the USCSA Southwest. This is a good opportunity for smaller teams to obtain housing without incurring a lot of costs.

  • Many condos and motels can accommodate up to four or more people. If your team has limited resources, consider renting motel rooms and having team members split the cost between them.

 

The best bet for you to find a property is to go to Craigslist or the Mammoth Times newspaper and look at the local listings. They are updated every week (as the Mammoth Times is a weekly paper). The paper updates Wednesday afternoon or evening and are published hardcopy on Thursday. Look into both furnished and non-furnished houses, condos and apartments. Usuallyvyou won't have much luck this early in the season, but it's a good idea to start looking now and get a feel for the market. We would advise to keep every week of Mammoth times listings as a reference to compare prices as well as give an idea of what's out there.

 

Many people are scared of teams, but if you do the math, there is usually less wear and tear on a house for six months by a team of people who come up occasionally on weekends than by a family of 4 who live in the house for 6 months straight.

 

Many of the universities do not want to get involved with renting houses, so you will have to rent them on your own, using your own credit history and the credit history of a few others on the team. Be prepared to make drives to Mammoth on a whim. In past seasons, teams have made as many as 3 trips up before the season began to look for houses, meet landlords, and scout

out property by driving around town (which doesn't really help that much). In terms of panic time, if you don't have a house by mid-November, start to panic. Consider having a backup plan for the new years race just incase you can't secure a house to rent. 

 

Renting a house is a lot of work, but can be really beneficial. Make sure that the landlord is aware you will be using the property mostly on the weekends and that during the week nobody will be in the house. This is important if there are specific things that need to be done so the house does not end up with frozen pipes, etc. 

 

Once you have secured a house in Mammoth, make sure that you sign a lease. Ask about any specific things you need to worry about when you will be gone during the week. Take pictures and videotape the walkthrough of the house and make note of every item that could be cause for not returning your security deposit. During the course of your tenancy, keep track of every phone conversation you have with the landlord/property owner. Note the date, the person you spoke to, estimated length of conversation and a summary of each conversation. Save all email correspondence, save all utilities payments, all letters to the landlord, and keep

track of all checks sent to the landlord.

 

At the end of the season, make sure you do a thorough cleaning of the property, including steam cleaning the carpets (steam cleaners can be rented at Vons and are inexpensive), disinfecting bathrooms, sinks, kitchens, and refrigerators. All of these things are important both so you can hopefully convince the landlords to rent to you in the future and so you can get all or most of your security deposit back at the end of the season.

 

 

Here are the most common places for teams to search for housing:

  • Classifieds in the Mammoth Times ( http://mammothtimes.com/ )

  • Place a looking for ad on ( http://www.gomammoth.com/ )

  • Leisure Real Estate - 800-266-6966 or 760-934-2562

  • Mammoth Sierra Properties - 800-851-6442 or 760-934-4501

  • Re/Max - 800-266-1890 or 760-934-4542

  • Century 21 - 800-462-5586 or 760-934-2121

  • http://www.mammoth-net.com/

  • Rent by the weekend.

  • 10,000 Vacation Rentals 888-369-7245

  • Accommodations 4 Mammoth/MRS 800-462-5571

  • Central Reservations of Mammoth 800-321-3261

  • Great Escape 800-748-0699

  • Mammoth Accomodation Center 800-358-6262

  • Mammoth California Reservations 800-MAMMOTH

  • Mammoth Country Reservations 800-255-6266

  • Mammoth Hospitality 800-228-4947

  • Mammoth Lakes Accommodation Service 800-843-6285

  • Mammoth Resort Lodging 800-228-4947

  • Mammoth Lakes Lodging Referrals 888-GO-MAMMOTH

  • Mammoth's Lodging Connection 800-468-6386

  • Mammoth Mountain Reservations 800-462-5577

  • Mammoth Premiere Reservations 800-336-6543

  • Mammoth Properties Reservation 888-MAMMOTH

  • Mammoth Reservations 800-223-3032

  • Mammoth Reservation Bureau 800-462-5571

  • Mammoth Sierra Reservations 800-325-8415

  • Mammoth Vacation Getaways 800-634-3733

  • North Village Reservations 760-934-5612

  • Summit Accommodations 800-262-7062

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