4 Tips For Living With A Roommate
If you’ve never lived with roommates before, living with strangers can feel, well, strange. Even if you’re moving in with friends you’ve known all your life, living with them may be an entirely different experience. Whoever your new roommates are, you’ll need to know how to best navigate your daily lives together to ensure a good experience for everyone involved. Everyone seems to have a roommate horror story, but if you can follow these guidelines, you’ll be well on your way to avoiding becoming one. From Wilson Property Management, rental property management Raleigh NC, here are four tips for living with a roommate.
1. Get to Know Each Other
Since you’ll be living together, it’s important to get to know each other. Many apartments with rental agencies in Raleigh NC already have a process in place to help you match with a roommate based on your preferences. However, what you see isn’t always what you get! While your roommate may have said they’re outgoing, in reality, they might actually be quite shy. Try to get to know each other by looking for similar interests or perspectives like favorite TV shows, similar music tastes, favorite sports teams, etc. If you’re in college, this can be majors and minors, hometowns, and bonding over the college experience in general. If you have multiple roommates, a great way to get to know each other is by playing party games like Uno, Cards Against Humanity, and Two Truths and a Lie. Your rental property management Raleigh NC apartment may have these games ready to play in your community’s clubhouse.
2. Divide Up Chores
Nobody thrives in a messy environment; one of the easiest ways to create grievances between roommates renting with our rental property management Raleigh NC is chore neglect. Come up with a way to share your new home’s chores between yourselves. You could try divvying up tasks by what you like and don’t like. For example, if hate taking the trash out, but your roommate doesn’t mind, therefore you can assign them to trash duty. If you both dislike certain tasks, try alternating them weekly or monthly. You can buy affordable whiteboards from stores like Target or Walmart to stick to common areas in plain sight, like the fridge, that can help you keep track of whose turn it is. The whiteboard method also provides an easy way to see what’s been done and what hasn’t.
3. Set Your Boundaries
Setting boundaries is going to be another important task when you rent with a rental property management company Raleigh. While some rules might seem like no-brainers, like entering a roommate’s bedroom without their permission, others might be more subtle. Another example of a more subtle boundary might be that you prefer no shoes in the home while your roommate is used to wearing shoes indoors. Some roommates are fine sharing groceries, but for others, this would be a huge overstepping of boundaries. Tackle this issue head-on by laying down some of your personal boundaries early on in your home-sharing experience. That said, you don’t necessarily want this to be the first thing you talk about with your roommate, or you could come off as aggressive. A good way to approach this might be taking a magnetic whiteboard (like you use for chores) and listing common scenarios with “yes” or “no” listed next to them. Then, have your roommate use a designated color to circle their preferences.
4. Be Courteous and Communicate
When it comes to sharing a home, Wilson Property Management, rental property management Raleigh NC, knows communication is key. Assuming your roommate is okay with you making a major change to the apartment like painting the living room or adopting a new pet is a surefire way for trouble to brew. If anything you are planning on doing may affect the life of your roommate, always discuss it with them first and get verbal, and possibly written, confirmation they are okay with it. If you’re planning on throwing a party, make sure this is okay with your roommate. If you know they have a test coming up, are having sleep issues, or are feeling sick, it might be best to plan for a time that is better for them. Let them know about your party plans as far in advance as possible to allow them to spend the night with family or friends if they need.
Wilson Property Management | Rental Property Management Raleigh NC
Living with roommates can be a big change, but that doesn’t mean it has to be scary! We hope this blog has given you a better idea of how to navigate sharing a living space with others. If you find you’re having issues with your roommate, you can always contact your landlord at your apartment with our property management company Raleigh. Looking for apartments in Raleigh, NC? Wilson Property Management, rental property management Raleigh NC, can help! Browse our available properties by visiting us on our site. Ready to find the perfect property for you? Contact our property managers Raleigh NC today!