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Maybe flip the script and look for people in need of a roommate/house-share in the area you want to live. It might be easier for you to be the roommate, rather than having your name on the lease and interviewing candidates.
Ask them for one or two personal references. Also why are they moving? Talk to their current roommate if the have one.
Also avoid anyone who recently changed jobs, if it doesn't work out for some reason you don't want to hear they're unemployed and can't make rent.
I'm trying to find someone financially stable. So one of the questions I would ask is how they are financially in case they lost their job. I'm pretty good at reading people unless they're a terrific liar.
I have a sweet friend who wants to move out on their own too but she doesn't have much money so I won't ask her.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I had roommates several times in my life: twice were with friends, who are now former friends (if that tells you anything) and once with complete strangers. Without a doubt, the complete stranger set up worked the best. It was a 3 bedroom apartment with one bath. We had rules that we all agreed to. Incidentally, these weren't my rules. They were in place when I moved in.
We each had a cabinet and a shelf in the refrigerator. We had our own dishes. We cleaned up after ourselves within 2 hours.
There were 3 toilet paper rolls hung in the bathroom--one for each of us. We each had an assigned day to clean the bathroom so it was cleaned 3 days a week. We carried our bathroom supplies (toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc) to the bathroom when we used it so the only thing in the bathroom was hand soap.
The person who actually leased the apartment provided cleaning supplies.
There were no sleep overs or parties allowed. We had guests, but they did not spend the night.
We all knew that if you didn't pay, you were out. No exceptions.
I actually rarely saw my roommates as we tended to stay in our own bedrooms which were huge. Aside from not having a bathroom, the bedrooms functioned as a pretty good living space. It worked for me and I was able to save a ton of money.
The issues I had with roommates who were former friends were loud parties, finding strangers in my bed, missing food and other items and a whole lot of other issues. Also, one friend was always shorting the rest of us on rent and it was just a bad situation.
One thing I would suggest is make sure schedules are compatible. For example, I had a roommate who worked 9-5 and partied on the weekend. I worked long shifts on the weekends. That sucked for me. I also had a roommate who worked the graveyard shift. No matter how quiet I was, it seemed he was always disturbed. He was cool about it, but I felt like I really couldn't do anything because I didn't want to wake him up.
I had roommates several times in my life: twice were with friends, who are now former friends (if that tells you anything) and once with complete strangers. Without a doubt, the complete stranger set up worked the best. It was a 3 bedroom apartment with one bath. We had rules that we all agreed to. Incidentally, these weren't my rules. They were in place when I moved in.
We each had a cabinet and a shelf in the refrigerator. We had our own dishes. We cleaned up after ourselves within 2 hours.
There were 3 toilet paper rolls hung in the bathroom--one for each of us. We each had an assigned day to clean the bathroom so it was cleaned 3 days a week. We carried our bathroom supplies (toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc) to the bathroom when we used it so the only thing in the bathroom was hand soap.
The person who actually leased the apartment provided cleaning supplies.
There were no sleep overs or parties allowed. We had guests, but they did not spend the night.
We all knew that if you didn't pay, you were out. No exceptions.
I actually rarely saw my roommates as we tended to stay in our own bedrooms which were huge. Aside from not having a bathroom, the bedrooms functioned as a pretty good living space. It worked for me and I was able to save a ton of money.
The issues I had with roommates who were former friends were loud parties, finding strangers in my bed, missing food and other items and a whole lot of other issues. Also, one friend was always shorting the rest of us on rent and it was just a bad situation.
One thing I would suggest is make sure schedules are compatible. For example, I had a roommate who worked 9-5 and partied on the weekend. I worked long shifts on the weekends. That sucked for me. I also had a roommate who worked the graveyard shift. No matter how quiet I was, it seemed he was always disturbed. He was cool about it, but I felt like I really couldn't do anything because I didn't want to wake him up.
Good luck.
How did you find your apartments? I'm scouring craiglist which is definitely rolling the dice.
Steer clear of any websites that promise to match you up. Most if not all are scams to get your credit card and then automatically deduct a monthly fee. Don't do it even a "trial".
I would think getting a bigger place with more roommates would be preferable to getting a place for two, if you don't know the person moving in. If you get a 4 bedroom place and have 3 roommates, it seems you can do better creating a mutually agreeable space. Plus, there's more room if someone is louder.
That's just my experience.
Not a good idea, the more people in the mix the more problems.
Better off and easier to find one person who has similar values and lifestyles that are close to yours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milkywaian
I'm trying to find someone financially stable. So one of the questions I would ask is how they are financially in case they lost their job. I'm pretty good at reading people unless they're a terrific liar.
I have a sweet friend who wants to move out on their own too but she doesn't have much money so I won't ask her.
Well the thing is that is a very "off putting" question. I mean you're trying to ask them how much in savings they have, that's over the line.
I suggested asking how long at the job because that shows stability.
And honestly today many people are only a couple of paychecks from being on the street, some due to high living expenses, others due to having to spend everything they earn.
Regardless, few if anyone is going to answer detailed questions on their financial situation. But showing steady long time employment is a good way to read someone.
I like the idea of starting off with an open-ended question about finances. Say to them "One of my major priorities is to have a roommate who is financially responsible. What are the ways you consider yourself to be financially responsible?"
This way you get to hear what THEIR definition of financial responsibility is before you go into more specific questions. It should clue you in to how much the person has thought about that topic, how well they understand it, and how they define it. You can then either weed them out, or if you're liking what they say, go for more specifics.
How did you find your apartments? I'm scouring craiglist which is definitely rolling the dice.
This is a bad idea waiting to happen. You're better off going to a college campus looking for flyers.
I had 2 roommate situations. Both ended not to good.
1 guy was always broke, always in my food, asking can I cover the rent until his check came, always trying to piggyback and hang out with me.
The other had solid finances, but his GF was there EVERYDAY. And then they got married seemingly in the middle of the night and she moved in. That created another mess.
Going back to what I said, the craigslist thing is probably going to lead to a doomed situation.
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