How to find and choose a roommate

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How to Find and Choose a Roommate

There are many ways to advertise for a roommate. You can use Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) or any locally directed classified ad website, the local paper, or even stick up a notice on a bulletin board. Many schools and universities have housing listings which you can use to find people or place your ad.

First, write your ad. Include details on the place and room available but do not provide an address! Write a little about yourself as well - are you a student, a professional, a smoker, etc. Then, write a bit about what you'd like in a roommmate - do you need a nonsmoking roommate, do you prefer someone who won't bring home 20 people on Friday night for a wild party, will the kitchen be fully used by everyone, etc. Use generalities - you don't need a 50 item bulleted list. Add your phone number and email address for contact and ask respondents to tell you a bit about themselves, how long they are looking to rent for, and what they would find an ideal roommate to be like.

Then place your ad.

You may get MANY responses. Print each email you get out. Some will be easy to eliminate. If they didn't answer your questions, put them at the bottom of the pile. Organize the ones that sound promising in order from 'most promising' to 'least promising' and respond to them. You may want to talk on the phone to get a better feel for the person. Talk to them about what they are wanting in a roommate and a place to live (even if they already said so in the response). Do you have any kind of connection with them? Does what they say sound good to you? If so, ask to meet them in person. If you are not sure about the person or their intentions DO NOT give your address to them. Better to not meet them at all, but if someone is on the 'borderline' meet them in a neutral place before showing them your home.

When the person arrives, notice if they are on time or four hours late. Give them a tour of the apartment and let them look around in what would be the bedroom for them. Then sit down and talk to them. Make chitchat at first to get comfortable. Notice if they communicate well with you - good communication will be very important when you are living with them! Ask them about themselves and share information about you such as to find out if your schedules mesh (or are they up all night and sleep all day and you are the reverse), if there are any things (like smoking, drinking, drugs or other habits) that are out of sync with what you want (and vice versa). Ask them how they have resolved problems with roommates in the past - ask for an example. Discuss the rent and what it includes (any taxes or extra services that they need to account for? deposit? ) Try to find out what they do that makes them a living - are they paying rent from savings or do they work (at something LEGAL!) If you are suspicious of how they get their money, you may have good reason to be. Do not get entangled with someone who does illegal activity to make a living - if you live with them you could find yourself in trouble without having done a single thing! Keep chatting and see how you feel. Do you think you could live with this person?

If they seem to be a good prospect, ask for contact information of a couple of people they have lived with before. Call them and ask them about what it was like to live with them - were they tidy, messy, noisy, rude....? How did they communicate problems? Did they pay rent on time? If someone cannot provide several decent references, do not let them move in.

After you have gone through this with a few people it will seem easier and you should have a better idea of what it is you want and do not want in a roommate. Call the person you liked best and offer them the place! Act fast though - good places to live and good people to live in them go quickly!