Meeting an Apartment Roommate

Meeting a potential roommate can be an exciting, but unnerving thing. If you're going to room with a person in your apartment for a year or more, the decision is a big one. Evaluating your roommate and also ensuring your safety should you not choose said roommate is vital. There are certain steps you should take before picking a roommate to move in to your rented apartment.

Meet at a convenient, public area. It's integral not to meet at home due to safety issues. A coffee shop, bookstore, mall, or elsewhere are good ideas for meeting your potential roommate. Close off the meeting time. You don't want to be stuck strangely leaving or giving the person an impression that you are definitely not choosing him or her for the apartment. Give a 30 minute timespan and let the person know in advance. Ask for an ID. This can be an awkward step but ensuring the validity of a person is important. Try giving them your ID first so it's a reciprocal process, but if they don't return their own license, it's a likely red flag that you should worry about. Be you. More than any other step, your best bet to forming a enjoyable roommate situation is being clear about your tendencies, your psyche and theirs. Hopefully, your openness will open up them to be just as clear about their real traits and apartment living habits. Leave things open ended. Treat it like an job interview. Making a speedy decision can never end well, so think it over, and let them know that you'll be in quick response about the roommate decision. Note taking. This is especially important if you are interviewing a few potentials for the apartment. However, refrain from doing this in the process of talking with the person, because you may appear neurotic and likely, someone people don't want to live with. Ask questions. Delve into their personality or their inability to let you know about their psyche as much as you can. Why don't they have a strong living situation already? How messy are they? What are their social habits?