Granted, choosing a housemate should be pretty simple. However, it is very possible to overlook some important aspects that could end up giving you and your housemate a terrible experience together. Below are 5 tips to help you find the perfect housemate.
-
Welcome Change
When you decide to share your living space with another person, you have to be flexible and change yourself a bit to accommodate the other person. The other person also has to make similar compromises to make your life together bearable. However, it is important to let your housemate know about special quirks about you that might be a concern.
Pretending to be perfect in the beginning and then starting to reveal your true and less appealing aspects down the road will result in a failed partnership.
-
Find Someone Who Is Very Similar To You
Opposites may attract, but in the end, it is differences that create rifts between people. When choosing a housemate, find someone who has a considerably similar personality, and shares similar personal interests. For instance, if you are a hardcore sports fan and happen to live together with someone who hates sports, you will end up fighting over the remote.
On the other hand, living with a vegetarian when you are not a vegetarian yourself will also most likely result in arguments or acts of intolerance over time. So, get someone you share interests with.
-
Discuss The Expectations Of The Relationship At The Beginning
You would be surprised how much another person’s expectations might differ from yours when it comes to living together. For instance, some people lead lives whereby they usually entertain an endless flow of guests into their homes, while others expect a fairly undisturbed life with the guests few and far between.
You should be clear about such things from the very beginning, otherwise your housemate may turn out to be a roommate from hell when you are trying to get a good night’s sleep and they are housing a noisy late-night party.
-
Don’t Always Choose A Friend
It’s highly tempting to choose to live with a friend, since you obviously already like each other. But what many people fail to realize is that most of their friends lead very different lives outside the friendship. For instance, you could be a neat-freak while your friend leaves the house looking like a shed. When living apart, this may look like a funny quirk, but when staying together, it can be quite annoying.
Moreover, a friend will not be as motivated to change to accommodate your needs, since they expect a lot of tolerance from you simply because you are friends. A few friends may work out as housemates, but most won’t.
-
Find Someone Willing To Contribute
Although some people want a housemate, they still want to live as if they don’t have one. For instance, they are not be willing to do certain things together, such as paying common bills and doing household chores. Some housemates happen to have been serial rent defaulters, and once they move in with you, you may end up paying the rent on your own over and over again.
You should find out if your potential housemate has the income to contribute to rent, and how willing they are to help around the house.
Bottom Line
People have obviously made terrible mistakes in the past when choosing housemates. For instance, some people consider only their closest friends, and it turns out that living with them is a nightmare. Additionally, some people choose people who are different from them and then end up fighting over almost everything down the road.
These are some of the things you should look out for when choosing a housemate.