How to Avoid Bad Housemates
2010-01-12
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Debating about living alone, living with friends, or living with new people? There is a lot to consider when deciding whether or not to live with friends or find a place by yourself. Consider your class schedule, your study habits, your eating habits, and your time management. Will conflicts occur because of clashes in personal schedules, styles of studying or diets? Do you have different opinions about levels of cleanliness and housekeeping? How will you handle overnight guests, borrowing items, parties, or smokers?
You should have open discussions with anyone you’re interested in living with. It is better to get any concerns out in the open before a lease is signed or an agreement is made. To determine your compatibility with a potential roommate, fill out the questionnaire in this section.
A roommate relationship is more than a living arrangement. Roommates can have an emotional as well as financial effect on each other’s lives. There are many laws to define the tenant landlord relationship but none deal specifically with roommate relationships. (Though it is possible under some circumstances for one roommate to be the landlord of the other[s].)
It’s important to choose a roommate wisely and to communicate so you can work out problems that might occur. If you arrange to share an apartment with a roommate you don’t know, ask the landlord to let you sign separate leases so each of you are responsible only for your share of rent and any damages you cause.
And beware, your best friend may not be the best choice for a roommate. Living together could strain your friendship if you find you disagree about cleaning, parties, paying bills, sharing food or other issues that arise in a shared apartment. Negotiating a compromise, subletting, or sticking it out can become very difficult.
Try and move in with people who you know because you could move in with any Tom, Dick and Harry and find out that they love bondage at 5 in the morning while playing with their electric guitar. Also try and move in with people who have the same interests as you. If you like going out a lot don't move in with people who don't. DON'T move in with your partner or boy/girl friend if you are an undergrad student. If the relationship goes down the pan your house may turn into lovers hell. There is a much greater success rate for graduate student cohabitation, than undergrads.
Search for someone you can trust and who is laid back. Housemates that can’t handle a little house chaos every now and again always end up living on their own in 3rd or 4th year. Be aware of neat freak personality traits, because even if you consider yourself to be clean they might have a different standard than you. Conflicts arise when the obsessive person starts blaming others for not pulling their weight.
There are many pluses and minuses to both living with a roommate and by yourself. Living by yourself will give you the chance to enjoy solitude and release the potential burdens of living with others. Living with others may help you save money by sharing expenses, such as rent, utilities, and telephone.
Some things worth asking yourself before moving into shared rented accommodation include:
Are they clean people or can you foresee mouldy cups under their bed?
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Do they like loud music and, if so, how late do they play it? If music's important to you, find out what they like.
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Do they talk to themselves or take their moods out on others when they are stressed out?
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How do they expect to arrange bills and pay for shared items like milk and toilet roll?
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Are you already good friends and could their being annoyed at you using their milk be the end of a beautiful friendship?
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Will they bring their partner(s) home every night? If so, will they be considerate of the others in the house or will their boyfriend/girlfriend become a permanent fixture in the living room or the bathroom?
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Are they heavy drinkers, do they smoke or like taking drugs? Is this something you want in your house?
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Are they good fun or will they be dull and boring on a Saturday night when you're all set to party the night away? Do they plan to have lots of house parties?
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Find out if you share the same social attitudes - will they expect you to socialise with them if you have your own friends?
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Are their friends people you are interested in meeting or spending time with?
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Do they have strange habits, like walking around late at night and using the washing machine at 3am?
Final word – Choose Wisely
