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What have been your experiences living with roommates?
I have the opportunity to live in a house with one man and 2-3 women. The owner of the house (the guy) has his own bedroom and bathroom. The women are professionals in their 20s.
It sounds great and the price is right but I really, really value my privacy and I'm having trouble getting over the idea of living with people I don't know. I have all of these ideas in my head of things that could go wrong...but I would love to meet new people. And the owner said that he has had some tenants who stay in their room all the time which is fine and for those who like to socialize there's a large living area and kitchen.
I guess I'm just trying to convince myself that it will be ok, but I'd like to hear stories/advice from any of you who have already been in this situation.
They were not my roommates but my tenants. They seemed very different, I don't really know how they lived together.
I am not saying roommates have to be soulmates, but a minimum amount of compatibility is absolutely necessary.
One was perfect at first, but started failing to pay rent shortly after they moved in, and kept pushing it upon the other.
The second one was quite responsible, and ended up paying late rent more than once so that both would not have an eviction on their credit report.
Choose wisely, it is a big responsibility... Not to mention habits such as cleaning, sleeping, noise, people who would be allowed in the house (friends/boyfriends/girlfriends/relatives), drinking/smoking, etc.
My advice is, discuss everything beforehand. It sounds a little harsh, but avoids problems later. Who will clean, who will cook, how often, how utilities/rent/groceries will be paid, noise hours, etc. No detail is too small.
This will avoid huge headaches in the future. I hope my post has helped.
They were not my roommates but my tenants. They seemed very different, I don't really know how they lived together.
I am not saying roommates have to be soulmates, but a minimum amount of compatibility is absolutely necessary.
One was perfect at first, but started failing to pay rent shortly after they moved in, and kept pushing it upon the other.
The second one was quite responsible, and ended up paying late rent more than once so that both would not have an eviction on their credit report.
Choose wisely, it is a big responsibility... Not to mention habits such as cleaning, sleeping, noise, people who would be allowed in the house (friends/boyfriends/girlfriends/relatives), drinking/smoking, etc.
My advice is, discuss everything beforehand. It sounds a little harsh, but avoids problems later. Who will clean, who will cook, how often, how utilities/rent/groceries will be paid, noise hours, etc. No detail is too small.
This will avoid huge headaches in the future. I hope my post has helped.
Thank you, that's definitely a good idea. The owner said that if I did cleaning around the house he could lower the rent price, so I might take him up on that. The dates, people and noise are good things to look into.
I'm not too worried about being kicked out since I'll be living in the house with the owner and I know that I won't be late on rent. If someone else is late it won't be my problem.
I just cannot stress enough the "agreements" one should have with roommates about daily, small things. What does not bother one in the least drives other crazy (loud noise after 10PM? friends staying "just for the weekend?" polishing off your favorite goodies without replacing them? always leaving dishes to be washed/put in the dishwasher? leaving stuff all around the shared areas?)
I might be behaving like an old, grumpy lady regarding that, but I think it is better to discuss these things at first. If something irritates you, when you are already angry it might not be the best time to discuss them.
If you have things figured out from the beginning such unfortunate misunderstandings are less likely to happen.
I just cannot stress enough the "agreements" one should have with roommates about daily, small things. What does not bother one in the least drives other crazy (loud noise after 10PM? friends staying "just for the weekend?" polishing off your favorite goodies without replacing them? always leaving dishes to be washed/put in the dishwasher? leaving stuff all around the shared areas?)
I might be behaving like an old, grumpy lady regarding that, but I think it is better to discuss these things at first. If something irritates you, when you are already angry it might not be the best time to discuss them.
If you have things figured out from the beginning such unfortunate misunderstandings are less likely to happen.
Well then I guess that makes me an old, grumpy lady too. It would definitely bother me if people were eating my food and making a lot of noise late at night. I usually get home late but I'm super quiet - no partying or having friends over or anything like that. I'm thinking of buying a mini fridge to keep in my room to avoid anything like that from happening. Something to consider.
I talked some more with the owner of the house and he said that most of the women there (it's actually 6 bedrooms) use it basically as a place to sleep and study. No parties or anything like that. So this might work out well after all.
I'm definitely not making a decision until I see the place and meet the other potential roommates though.
I don't know your LL of course, I am just saying, a former place where I lived (in a separate apartment, not as a roommate, but that does not matter) had a LL who told me "just young professionals and students" lived there.
Indeed, they used the place to study and sleep after they partied until 3 AM and passed out in the hallways.
And indeed, there was a guy who studied/worked, but had a porch right beside my bedroom window, where he played the guitar, the electric guitar, sang, had friends over to drink and talk loudly outside until way after 2AM, etc.
Look for my posts about noisy neighbors and the one I called "Elvis", you will see how terrible it was.
I am not saying anything specific, obviously, but many LLs (not all) will say anything to have the place rented.
One thing I forgot to mention on a previous post, just to be grumpier, unless you don't mind (and I do mind, a lot!!): no musical instruments of any kind. People who play the guitar (or any other instrument at home) after having the neighbor I did, are the last neighbors I want. It is unfortunate, and they might be nice people (I am sure most are), but it did not really work for me at all.
I'm glad I never had roommates and live in a place where owning a home is actually possible. I could never live in a place where the only thing I could afford was a roommate situation.
College roommates are different but I didn't want roommates back then either.
I would rather live in a closet sized studio by myself than have roommates.
Did that for nearly 6 years and it got old. They ALWAYS tell you they don't party, don't do drugs, hardly drink, rarely have friends over and are NEVER up past 10pm. They usually lie so they can get someone to sign a lease and start paying. As you can probably tell, I've had nothing but bad experiences with roommates. Put locks on everything, try to get your own mini fridge and small pantry (or try to use a drawer or a shelf in the closet) and just try to keep everything separate.
Is there any way you could contact ex-roommates who have lived there before? Just to see how they 'really' are?
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Something to consider.
Lol, I'm just not a big socializer. 
