How to look at a place you are being rushed through
Inspections are short, crowded and designed to move quickly. Slow yourself down deliberately.
Most inspections give you about ten minutes and a queue behind you, which is why people sign for rooms they have not really seen. Go in with three or four things you will check no matter what, so that the rush cannot wash them away. Turn a tap on and watch the pressure and the temperature. Open the shower. Look under the sink and in the corners of the bathroom for staining or damp. Open and close the windows, and check whether they lock. Look at the meter box and ask what heats the place and what that costs across a bad month, because a cheap room in a cold building is not cheap.
Then check the things that are about living rather than the building. Where is the nearest food shop, and is it open at the hours you will actually need it. How do you get to campus, at your real times, not the optimistic midday version. Is there somewhere you could plausibly study, or does the room only work as a bed. Stand still in the place for thirty seconds and listen: traffic, trains, the pub downstairs, the neighbour's television through the wall. Noise is the thing people report regretting most, and it is the easiest thing to miss when somebody is talking you through the kitchen.
If it is a share house, the interview goes both ways, and the housemates matter more than the tiles. Ask how long they have lived there, what happened to the person leaving, how bills are handled and who cleans what. Watch how they answer rather than what they answer. On paperwork and money, understand that tenancy rules vary by state and territory, so do not take anybody's word (including ours) about deposits, agreements or notice. The tenancy authority for your state is the place to check before you sign or hand over anything, and it costs nothing to look first.