Advice and tips for choosing a good roommate

[Rambo]

Quick background - my current living situation has become somewhat inhospitable to my mental state and demands that I get out. Now, as much as I yearn to live on my own finally, I believe it would be prudent to get a roommate. Trouble is, I've never had a roommate before and don't really know how to weed out the crazy's and nutters. Several of you guys have been through this several times. Any tips and tricks?

 

[Joffrey]

I've had very good luck living with absolute, total strangers. Everytime I've lived with a friend it has ended badly. Don't move in with anyone if you have any shred of distrust for them. A few folks around here will know what I'm talking about.

 

[Blackhood]

The crazies and nutters are good. You can plan for them and they will simply do their thing without your input.

Don't move in with people you may want to live with. Moving in with girls? Bad idea. Moving in with drinking buddies? Bad idea. Moving in with Law students who spend every hour reading books? GOOD IDEA!

 

[olualbert]

Dont get a room mate!

 

[Rambo]

Sure. Just send me over a few barrels crude oil and I'll consider it.

 

[Rambo]

Come on guys. Anybody else with good advice for me? I have absolutely no idea how to separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

[GQgeek]

having roommates sucks. I'm so happy i don't have to deal with that **** anymore. Don't know if there's a fail-proof method of selecting them. You might use field/program of study as a filter. Professional types and people in demanding programs with good grades are less likely to be disruptive. You'll never know how clean they are until they move in, but you might make some assumptions based on their general appearance. You probably want to get an idea for how often they go out and how social they are. I always hated having random ppl i didn't know coming by.

 

[Hombre Secreto]

nevermind

 

[Archivist]

Back when I had roommates, I usually found women better than men. Except when they are insane. Living with insane women will complicate your life.

Exchange students (grad school, or professional internship) were usually a good bet. Kids who had been in boarding school were also good. They tend to know how to live with other people, are sociable, and understand privacy and personal space.

 

[Master-Classter]

party somewhere else and come home to relax... ie, live with 'normal' but reserved people is prudent, and make sure it's your place above your roomates so they can't do anything if they don't like you.

I generally try to match up similar characteristics (like me), and think about a few big things that I do/don't like. For example, what are your thoughts on loud sex, smoking in/out the house, drug use, music, hobbies, how often you go out and how much you drink, etc...


and above all else, the most important thing is to lay down a few groundrules at the beginning so nobody can say you didn't say X, and make a policy of bringing something up as soon as it bothers/annoys you. It's when somebody gets annoyed but doesn't say anything for months that everything ends badly. And the third thing is try to be a little open/accepting. chances are whatever they're doing you'll just laugh about later.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

I lived with one or several roommates all through college. Most of them were friends and it generally worked out pretty well. Just try to find someone who has similar habits. I wouldn't worry about "crazies". A more realistic problem is conflict due to different lifestyles. If you want to host parties every other night, don't move in with a med student.

 

[tomgirl]

Try to find one who looks like Katy Perry.

 

[GQgeek]

Not sure i'd agree that women make better roommates than men. I've lived with women that were great roommates, but their BFs were over a lot and they were horrible to have around. Another was just as much of a slob as any male roommate I've had, and it was a pain to get her to help out with chores.

 

[*#..]

Originally Posted by Master-Classter

party somewhere else and come home to relax... ie, live with 'normal' but reserved people is prudent, and make sure it's your place above your roomates so they can't do anything if they don't like you.

I generally try to match up similar characteristics (like me), and think about a few big things that I do/don't like. For example, what are your thoughts on loud sex, smoking in/out the house, drug use, music, hobbies, how often you go out and how much you drink, etc...


and above all else, the most important thing is to lay down a few groundrules at the beginning so nobody can say you didn't say X, and make a policy of bringing something up as soon as it bothers/annoys you. It's when somebody gets annoyed but doesn't say anything for months that everything ends badly. And the third thing is try to be a little open/accepting. chances are whatever they're doing you'll just laugh about later.

This. Especially the part about bringing up something asap if it bothers you/other roommate. In my living situation right now, apparently my lifestyle is too disorderly for 2 of my roomies. They didn't say much about it until recently, and it just tore us apart so we don't talk to each other currently. They kept saying I'm in the wrong when I didn't know I was bothering them much in the first place because they never said anything. What I'm saying is don't room with someone passive, as I personally cannot stand those kinds of people. Avoid them. The problem just kind of snowballs until it's out of control.

 

[intent]

One woman had me add her to Facebook so she could check me out. I did, but eventually settled elsewhere.