I’d say that if all the rooms are “much of a muchness” then no difference in rent.
If there is a HUGE difference, then the best room pays more (eg - one has an ensuite, one is more than 50% bigger than another)
When I was at uni, I shared with a couple, they had the couple size room and I had the single - but we shared the rent equally (utilities and food on the other hand were split three ways)
During my senior year of undergrad I lived in a tiny house with three other girls. When we were deciding on rooms I got the one that was vastly smaller than the others- to the point that it was just half the size of the master bedroom downstairs. I didn’t mind terribly given I had just finished living abroad in a tiny apartment. I did think it would be unfair to have to pay the same as everyone else and we talked it over and agreed on something like my rent would be $25 lower per month, and everyone was fine with that.
HOWEVER op, this is an issue that should have been talked about before moving in. It also sounds like you guys didn’t have a similar arrangement and instead you had more of a “first come, first serve” rule to the rooms. That’s just what happens when you arrive last, the best room isn’t going to be available to you. Take this a as a lesson learned.
If you have full run of the place and use of all the appliances then the size of your bedroom shouldn’t really matter. You chose to pay 500 for your room, not in comparison to other rooms.
Well, I would call dibs on the bigger rooms in case one off the other two moves out. That how it was done when I was a student. The new kid started in the smallest room and everyone traded up when someone left.
If you don’t mind having the rep of being cheap and petty, then by all means, bring it up and demand that you pay 17% less than the other two.
I wouldn’t think an arm’s length of difference would be enough to bring up at this point.
If you want to piss off your roommates and make the rest of the apartment no fun also, go right ahead.
I would recommend being ready to switch rooms if one of the roommates leaves for some reason. If it still bothers you 12 months from now, move.
You did not contract for an equally sized room, and you signed a contract based on your assumptions. Just because your friends didn’t tell you about their rooms doesn’t mean that they made a jerk out of you. You went into the deal with your eyes closed and you feel that they should make adjustments because you didn’t even look at the apartment before signing. You should not even ask for a change in rent. You should be embarrassed to bring it up.
Live and learn.
Absolutely do not bring this up with your roommate.
What is it about being roommates with your friends or other random people that just turns us into dicks over petty shit like this?
Fuck it. I mean, wow. Just! Don’t… Don’t do it! Let it go.
In fact, I recommend getting a zen garden for your room. If you’re pacing about (or trying to) it sounds like you are stressed.
I have split rent equally with people when I had the smaller room, and didn’t have my own private bathroom, and I never felt that it was unfair. I have also split rent and paid a little more when I did have my own private bathroom and agreed to pay more ahead of time.
My advice: take a deep breath and say to yourself, “this too shall pass.” Don’t stress things out between you and your roommates. Because eventually it’s going to get to the point where they are taking your toothbrush and dunking it into the toilet (no, I never did that but I did know a relatively nice girl who did it to her roommates out of revenge). And nobody wants to brush their teeth with toilet water.
Sounds like your first place away from home.
[ul]
[li]Welcome to life, kid.[/li][li]Life ain’t fair.[/li][li]Choose your battles. This ain’t one of them.[/li][li]You got a smaller room. Big whoop.[/li][li]Next time inspect the place before you sign the lease.[/li][/ul]
Here endth the lesson.
As long as you have access to the shared rooms, I wouldn’t worry about it. And if you’re a pacer, bring it out into the public areas if you need more pacing room.
When I lived in shared accommodations, we would all choose our first choice of rooms and if there was disagreement, we played paper-scissors-rock. But the rent was always divided evenly (even when one guy’s room was not only the smallest but was the route to the back deck that was ALWAYS in use so he constantly had people using his room as a hallway).
That would have been a perfectly appropriate thing to bring up when you first looked at the place, or really any time before you signed the lease. You certainly could have tried to negotiate a small discount. (I think your proposed discount is way too large for a mere three foot difference in room size.) Now, you’re locked in, and it’s really more trouble than it’s worth to bring it up. Do not ruin your friendship with the people you live with over this, especially since it’s such a tiny difference. Good relations with the people you live with are much more important than the small difference in room size.
Sounds like the size of your room wasn’t really a problem until you worked out theirs was bigger. Let it go. It’s not like they have half the house and you have a closet.
I agree with the general consensus that you should just suck it up for a year. It’s what you agreed to, and it’s hardly a great hardship. If this is the biggest annoyance you get sharing an apartment with two other people, count yourself incredibly lucky.
The next time you sign a lease with other people, you’ll know to have this discussion beforehand.
I realized after posted this that it was not really what I intended to say. I was not trying to imply that the OP was a dick, and was definitely not trying to be insulting to him/her. I apologize sincerely for not phrasing things more carefully.
What I meant to say was that living together with friends/strangers tends to be a very stressful situation, which can make us overreact, feel slighted, etc to very minor things. And it’s something I’m guilty of, and everyone I know is guilty of, from time to time. We all end up acting like dicks sometimes to minor things when we really shouldn’t.
Again, sorry to the OP and anyone I offended, and I really didn’t mean to sound insulting like I did.
three people with a year lease. each spend 4 months in each room.
We split the rent differently at my apartment because the rooms are VASTLY different, not an arms length different. One is a master bedroom with a bed area, living area, double vanity, private bath and balcony. One is a medium sized bedroom with the bathroom not attached. Big difference so we split the rent 60/40- It’s more than fair and agreeable to both. For a tiny difference like what’s being described it’s ridiculous.
In my living arrangements with multiple people (3 different houses/apartments, 3-4 people living in each), we all did an equal split, because nobody cared that much. I can’t remember how we picked out rooms, but everyone agreed on them and to the deal before signing the lease.
So, yeah, the time to speak up was before you agreed to move in. At this point, I’d say it’s too late to say anything. You could try, and if they’re super nice, they might see your point and redo the rent division, but I wouldn’t count on it, and they certainly are not obligated to.
Personally, I’d shut up and consider it a lesson learned for next time.
Call them together and ask them to go 480/510/510 with you. It’s only a $10 increase per month for each of them (a decent pizza could easily cost more) so they’re more likely to say yes, but a $30 difference in payments between them and you, which isn’t shabby. A $75 difference for an extra arm’s length is likely to get you laughed at.
You’re going to make your (his) housemates move all there personal shit around twice during the year? Asking them to do that is as bad as asking for the rent reduction.