Okay, I need to trim expenses so I’m getting a roommate. I’ve done this before, so it’s not entirely new to me, but it has been a long, long time. I hold the lease on the apartment so I have the upper hand here. What should I, or shouldn’t I do?
Thanks all, in advance.
My random bits of advice from my experience doing this:
What you should require/ask varies considerably with how selective you can be, which in turns varies with how quickly you need to find someone, the desirability of your location, your tolerance for risk, your tolerance in general, etc. So the first thing I would do (after determining that your lease allows roommates, and the necessary procedure for adding them) is assess how long you can hold out for the right roommate and how important it is to find someone who is stable/compatible. If you plan to require credit reports, for example, you might end up waiting longer to fill the space.
In general, I think you’re trying to avoid two big problems: roomies who can’t pay rent and roomies who are crazy. Avoiding the first is a good bit easier than avoiding the second. The four basic things to require, in an ideal world, are a credit report, proof of income, contact information for prior roommates, and at least one in-person interview of significant length (coffee or tea). (Research suggests warm drinks cause people to trust you, making them more likely to be honest.) I don’t think it really matters what you talk about in the interview. Obviously you want to ask about cleanliness, smoking, sleep habits, etc. But I think the main point is to assess the person’s mental state, which is probably best done by talking about stuff outside the normal questions. Together those things should be able to steer you clear of most problems. But you might have to settle for less if you’re in a hurry.
You also need to consider how you want to structure your relationship. Will it be month-to-month? That has the advantage of being able to get rid of a bad roommate easily, but also means a roommate can leave you looking for someone new on short notice. Again this is probably a variable of your financial need and your tolerance for crazy people.
Good luck.
p.s. I’m sure you already plan to do this, but just in case you hadn’t thought of it, be sure to draft or fill out standard form laying out the roommate relationship, including use of utilities, who pays for utilities, when rent is due from the roommate, responsibility for damage, termination of tenancy, household chores, guests, results of involuntary termination, smoking, pets, etc. Have it in writing!
Work patterns/habits are important too. If you both work Mon-Fri 9-5 it shouldn’t be a problem, but if one of you does shift work/nights/weekends/works freelance it can be difficult because the other can have their sleep disturbed. A friend of mine - a really lovely, sweet guy - got asked to leave his last place because of this - if he wasn’t working eg on Thursday he’d go out on Wednesday night and come back at 2am. He always tried to be quiet but his housemate was a light sleeper. The housemate, who owned the house, told him it was nothing personal, and it wasn’t, my friend is a genuinely great guy, but they were just incompatible given their different working times.
Also how often boy/girlfriends stay over. Like most people I think, I couldn’t care less if a flatmate has someone to stay several nights a week, but it WILL become a problem if the person staying does it for more than a night or two, uses all the hot water, or drinks the rest of your milk so you can’t have your morning cuppa. Hangable offence!
Cleaning - yep, a big one. I much prefer to be anal and have that sorted asap. Make an agreement and stick to it.
There seems to be a bit of a traffic jam in the kitchen now that I’ve got a roommate. Not that we are always trying to cook at the same time but…
I would also make sure you make it clear that they have their own towels and they wash their own towels. THIS IS NOT A BED AND BREAKFAST!
Oh, and make a cleaning schedule. Otherwise the cleaning duties fall upon whoever can’t stand the mess the soonest.
Just make sure you don’t let Basement Dan move in. I’m sure normal people can figure out all of the above on their own.
You’ll need to run a background check, call at least 3 references, credit check, request their tax returns for the past 5 years, birth certificate, driver’s license (so you can check for any outstanding tickets/warrants), copies of bank statements and current pay stubs, medical evaluation (you don’t want to get contaminated by anything), address history, and family mental health history. Then have them sign a rent payment contract, non-disclosure agreement, statement of assets (in case you end up having to take them to court for unpaid rent this is incredibly useful when it comes to collecting), and collect a urine sample for drug testing.
If they are bringing any pets with them make sure you have them checked out for rabies. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to take a brain sample, but your safety is number one here.
That’s just what I do with anyone I’m screening as a potential roommate. YMMV.