Are you searching for a roommate? Looking for a roommate to split the cost of your apartment or home? Want to make sure you select a responsible roommate you can trust? Interviewing a roommate can help you get a feel for their personality, their lifestyle and if you think you are roommate – compatible with them. Here are some important questions to ask a potential roommate.
Roommate Interview Question #1: Do you have a job?
This is a crucial question, as you want to ensure that he or she will be able to pay half of the rent. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you’re stuck footing his or her bill. Even if he or she is planning to find a job, you are running a risk. This does not mean you shouldn’t necessarily turn the person away, but you need to be careful. It is important that he or she have stable employment, or another means of financial support. For example, if you are searching for a college roommate, he or she might have parental help, or have college loans to pay the bill.
Roommate Interview Question #2: What noise level are you accustomed to?
Does the potential roommate like to have loud music playing most of the time? Does she or he like to have the television on frequently for background noise? Or, do you like to have background noise? It is important to discuss this issue, otherwise you might find yourself very frustrated with your living circumstances.
Roommate Interview Question #3: What furniture and appliances do you already have?
If you are not planning on living in a furnished apartment, this is an excellent question. It’s great to learn how you will share furniture and appliances, and if you would need to purchase items such as a couch, microwave, etc. As a general rule, never split the cost of anything for your apartment. You should always have your own stuff that you share together as roommates. That way, when you leave as roommates, it will be easy to decide what belongs to which roommate.
Roommate Interview Question #4: Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend who will be visiting frequently? Or other friends who will be over often?
This is a very pertinent question. You need to have an idea of how much privacy you will have in your living quarters. If he/she plans to have a boyfriend / girlfriend over often, (of if you plan to), it’s important to discuss this issue. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you just want to relax on the couch and your roommate is hogging it with some friends. Or, if it’s the other way around, and you have a boyfriend/girlfriend over frequently, you need to share that information with them.
Roommate Interview Question #5: How important is cleanliness to you?
This is one of the most important questions to ask. You should discuss how you will split chores, or even if you will agree to hire a cleaning service and split the cost together. One of the best ways to annoy your roommate is to leave the bathroom a mess or have dirty clothes laying around. You should have a good feel on whether this potential roommate is OCD on cleanliness, or if he/she is okay with a little clutter.
Roommate Interview Question #6: Have you had roommates before? What were some things they did to irritate you?
This question will help you get a feel for their personality. If they have nothing but bad stuff to say about past roommates, perhaps they are a little bit more difficult to live with, or they’ve just had bad luck . If they haven’t had a roommate before, ask them about things that their siblings (if any) did to annoy them. (Yes, siblings are a lot different that roommates but it will give you a feel for how easy they are to live with.)
Roommate Interview Question #7: Do you smoke? How often do you drink?
This question is necessary to learn more if you are compatible with this person and their drinking and smoking habits. Obviously, if you can’t stand smoking and they smoke, then don’t agree to let them be your roommate. The same goes for drinking. You might agree to have a rule that no drinking is allowing your apartment, if you wish.
Roommate Interview Question #8: What is you schedule like?
It’s a good idea to know whether or not the potential roommate is an early bird or a night owl. If this person, likes to stay up late and might come home at 3:00 am in the morning and make alot of racket, and you value your sleep, you might think twice about rooming with this person.
Roommate Interview Question #9: How do you want to divide the bills?
This is another way to learn about the roommates personality, and its very important to talk about dividing the bills. In most cases, although you will split the bills evenly, its best to split which bills are in which name. For example, if you will be sharing internet, phone, cable, and electricity bills, you should agree to have two of them in your name and the other two in your roommates name. You should also decide how the bills will be divided, etc.
Roommate Interview Question #10: Do you have any questions for me?
It’s common courtesy to let him or her ask you some questions to get to know more about you. After all, choosing a roommate should be taken seriously, as you will be living with this person and sharing personal space.
For advice on getting along with a roommate, please read this article. Good Luck on your roommate search!
