Choosing Your Roommate

Making plans for housing for next year? Looking for roommates? Here’s some important considerations/things to discuss with future potential roommates prior to committing to living with one another and moving in:

Expectations about roommate relationships

·      What is each person looking for in a roommate relationship (e.g. a best friend, someone to hang out with on the weekend, or just a roommate to share rent with)?

Expectations about communication

·      What are the expectations about communication and resolving issues?

Expectations about cleanliness and household chores

·      How clean will the house be? Will you establish a chore schedule?

·      How soon do dishes need to be done?

·      If you and your future roommates must maintain your yard, who will mow the lawn/do yard maintenance etc? How often will this occur?

Expectations about household items

·      Who will pay for cleaning supplies and other shared household items (e.g. toilet paper, hand soap, dish soap)?

Expectations about shared areas and noise

·      Is it okay to play music or watch TV in shared areas? What about when one person needs to study?

Expectations about partying, alcohol, visitors, etc

·      What are the expectations about partying, alcohol, etc? Will parties be hosted at the house? If so, when can visitors come over (and are there any rules about how many guests, how long they can stay, etc)?

Expectations about rent, utilities, etc

·      Will all roommates pay the same amount for rent? Or do certain roommates pay more in exchange for having a larger room, a private bathroom, etc? If one person is in-charge of paying rent and utilities, who will send in the check to the landlord? What date do roommates need to pay by each month?

o   Note: make sure all roommates are on the lease and utilities are not listed in just one person’s name, to help ensure everyone is responsible for these payments.

·      Will internet or cable be part of the monthly expenses? If so, how will these expenses be divided amongst roommates?

Expectations about sharing food, clothing and other items

·      Will food and costs for food be shared, or will each roommate buy food individually/have their own items? Is it considered okay to eat someone else’s food? If so, what are expectations about replacing these items?

·      Will roommates share clothes? If so, what are expectations for sharing (e.g. needing to ask fist, specific things that can/cannot be shared, etc)

Expectations about other concerns

·      Who will buy furniture or other needed household items? If these are bought by multiple people, what happens to them when roommates move out?

·      Will there be pets?

·      What are expectations about house temperature, locking the front door and securing windows, etc?