Apartment hunting with a roommate means paying attention to two sets of needs. Start the process of communicating effectively with these roommate tips, and you can find an apartment where both of you will live happily.
Things to consider when finding roommates
Living with a roommate has a lot of perks. For starters, there are the financial benefits. Having a roommate means sharing your living expenses, including the monthly rent and utilities like phone, water, and cable. With someone else to share the bills, you might be able to afford a bigger, nicer apartment. And if you’re a friendly, social person, having a roommate can also make it easier for you to find new friends.
But living with roommates can also be complicated. Personalities and lifestyles can clash, and there are many situations that could cause a rift between you and the roommate you thought you’d enjoy having. Before you go apartment hunting with a roommate, here are a few points to consider when you’re thinking about living with one or several people:
•The more roommates you have, the more complicated it becomes to manage apartment responsibilities.
•Each roommate comes with his own circle of friends. If you have two roommates, that’s three sets of friends who could be in your personal space.
•In your past living arrangements, how much privacy have you needed? The more privacy you need, the fewer roommates you should have.
While this list is not exhaustive, it will get you started. (For more help choosing a roommate, refer to Living with Roommates.) Once you find a compatible roommate, you’re half way to finding a great apartment living situation.
Getting on the same page
After you find someone you’re sure will be a good roommate, you can start to search for an apartment to share. Apartment hunting with a roommate is the same as apartment hunting by yourself — only now you’ll have two sets of needs, wants, likes, and dislikes to consider in the process. Being respectful of your new roommate’s needs while still insisting on the things you want is the key to finding an apartment you can both live with.
It’s always a good idea to know what you want before you start an apartment search. So before you do any apartment hunting, sit down with your roommate and generate a list of deal-breakers. Ask your roommate to write down everything he can and cannot live without in an apartment. Consider items like price, space, features, amenities, and location.
Then write your own list of parameters for the apartment search. Look over your lists and discuss the similarities and differences. If you’ve got differing opinions on a major item like monthly rent, you’ll need to settle on a solution before you start looking for apartments. This list-writing exercise should help you and your roommate communicate your needs clearly before you start the apartment search.
Start your search
Once you’ve established the type of apartment you both want, you can find an apartment using ApartmentGuide.com. You can start by searching for apartments in a certain city and then narrow your search based on the apartment hunting criteria you and your roommate established with your lists. After you’ve got a list of potential apartments, you and your roommate can easily move from apartment hunting to apartment visiting and, ultimately, to moving in to a new apartment together.
The support and camaraderie of a roommate can be a great asset to apartment living. As long as you and your roommate keep the lines of communication open — including during your apartment search — your time together as roommates should go smoothly.
