Pickiness imperative in roommate search
Karen on 05 23, 2007
(Chicago-to-Seattle)
Great place in Seattle quells stress of long distance move
With Seattle’s burgeoning condo market and increasing rental rates, pangs of discouragement hit me after I finalized my decision to move to Seattle. Affordability was going to play a prime role in whether I could transfer, and reports of surging prices squeezing out single women from becoming condo owners only left me further disillusioned. You can easily argue that Chicago is still more expensive, but being from the burbs, I have not resided directly downtown.
After scouring apartments and worming my way through Seattle searching for a comfy place to call home, I quickly realized I would have to pay in excess of $1,000/month for a 1 bedroom apartment (that met my standards) downtown, unless I was wiling to settle for a somewhat dilapidated one. Another logical option was to live in my university’s apartments – which are nice, but still pricey – so I decided to scrap that route in favor of one downtown, but with a roommate. My free evenings were spent poring over the Craigslist.org roommate ads.
A few weeks later, I found a suitable roommate, who I’ll call Betty, and things seemed like they would mesh together swimmingly – Betty was subleasing a sumptuous Capitol Hill condo with her soon-to-depart roommate and was looking for her roomie’s replacement. But soon after we agreed on lease terms as roommates, her place became unavailable. Unfortunately, Betty’s roommate managed to extend the lease a couple months, totally disregarding their agreement and her roommate’s efforts to find her replacement.
My heart sank after our plans unraveled and I vowed to be more scrupulous in my search, less trusting and make sure the room’s availablity was not dependent on another person moving out or a landlord. I turned to the slick site, roommates.com, which is much more accessible and informative, in that it provides thumbnail pictures, maps and bios on all its listings. Moreover, the ads seemed geared toward working professionals, a big perk for those not interested in standard college apartments often typecast as grimy.
Thankfully, via the site, I found a great match whose interests and personality jibes with mine. Since my roommate is the owner of the townhouse and to curtail any unforeseen problems, we churned out our own agreement, which eases my mind since I have a cross-country move awaiting me. And even though my new home is not smack in the epicenter of downtown, I appreciate that my rent will chip away at my roommate’s mortgage, instead of going to a random landlord.
Being capricious and putting too much stake in a place that appeared plush was my biggest downfall in my initial search to find a roommate, and I don’t think my situation is an aberration. If you are fastidious about your research in your roommate search, it will pay off. Plan on chatting extensively with your potential roommate to gauge your compatibility, Googling the person or asking for references and make sure you don’t cling to one specific person (like I did) until all the facts check out. And if even a remote possibility exists that your room/roommate might fall through, simply move on.
About the Author: Karen Kirr
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6 Responses to “Pickiness imperative in roommate search”
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I’m trying to contain my excitement that my youngest daughter is moving up from L.A. She is coming the 8th to the 13th to find a place that she and her boyfriend can move into around the 1st of July. They will also both be going on job interviews, though they are able to transfer to their current place of employment if need be. The are both very young and don’t make very much, so it will be a challenge to find them something they can afford.
Her older sister who lives with me and works by the Space Needle is feeling compelled to get her own place or a place with them. So Apartment Hunting is huge for us right now. They can afford a place together better than separately, but one seems to be focusing on working on Eastside (not sure why) and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t make good roommates.
Juggling two daughters looking for rentals is tough. They are thinking maybe Kenmore would be a midpoint, and houses there are often a better rental option then an apartment. I’ve seen some renting for 1,100 or so, which is cheaper than two one bedroom apartments.
Hi, Ardell – That is really neat your daughter is moving closer to you, I bet you’re elated! I definitely would not want to commute from the Eastside, but it depends on the job I suppose. Renting a place on your own, especially when you’re younger is tough, but like you said it’s easier when a couple people are going in on a place. I have a few friends who have several roommates out in NYC, and they literally are squished like sardines in their apartment, but with the prices out there there’s not much they can do. Good luck to your daughter, that is awesome she’s moving closer to you!
Googling your potential roommate is very wise. I’m amazed more people don’t use this tool when selecting professionals (LOs, Realtors, etc.)…especially for someone you’ll be sharing a dwelling with!
Karen,
When the third and last one arrives, with my grand daughter, there’s going to be a parade
Hopefully by next year they will all be here. It is why I moved here.
I really think renting from a roommate who owns a place is the way for single women especially to go in this day in age. It’s typically cheaper than renting from a landlord or a large management company that owns a string of places. Obviously, in a perfect world we could all afford to buy or rent our own place, but having a great roommate with enough space between you can be just as enjoyable.
Googling can feel invasive, but is necessary. I did not hire movers until I not only researched their BBB record, but also googled them and sort of interviewed them via phone. It just seems like a no-brainer, but yes, a lot of people are reluctant to do all the legwork.
Hey if you’re looking for a roommate, then you can try this roommate finder. Hopefully it can provide some assistance.