Ah yes, it is apartment hunting season, and this might be your first time living with roommates! It is an exciting moment to sign your first lease with perhaps a group of friends you made during the year, or maybe you decided to try your luck by living with people you have not met before. In any case, you will soon learn what it is like to live with people around your own age, and sometimes it can be tricky. However, not to worry, because if you and your roommates manage to lock these three key components down, you will each have an easy time living with one another.
1. Communication
First key component for a happy household is stable communication. It does not seem all that difficult because we have phones that make communicating easy. As convenient as texting is, it does not help establish a personal relationship with someone. It is important that you feel comfortable enough to talk to your roommates in person about anything. If one of your roommates is too loud, forgot to clean up, or is next on the list to buy something, you should feel in a safe place to ask them.
A simple way to start a stable base of communication in your household is to ask your roommates to sit down together and discuss a plan during the first week of moving in. By doing this, you are establishing a way of communicating with each other on what needs to get taken care of, and you are allowing yourselves to be forward with one another face to face. It might feel less awkward with friends, but it is also important to do the same with people you know because it shows you are serious about making this a smooth living situation.
2. Respect
The second key component that will have quite an effect on your living situation is respect. You have to remember that even though you do not have your parents hovering over you anymore to tell you to do your chores. It is now your responsibility to do them on your own in respect to you and your roommates. There are many situations in a shared space that you need to be respectful of. Now you are living in a shared space with individuals your age, and chances are that you will all have different schedules, different preferences, and different customs.
One thing to remember about respect is that it goes both ways. If you are not reciprocating the respect that your roommates are giving you, you will not be giving you and your roommates an easy time living together. Sometimes it might feel annoying or irritating, because it seems like you are always accommodating to others, but that is something we easily forget about when we are living with other people. Everyone runs on a different schedule, and you should always find ways to compromise.
An easy way to keep track of everyone’s schedule is to share a Google document and add each other’s schedules. This will help you arrange your day for the right time to cook, shower, and wash your clothes for instance. It will also give you an idea of what time your roommates will be home, so you can give them space to cook a meal.
3. Trust
For the final key component, having trust in your future roommates is beneficial because you are sharing a space with other people and your own personal belongings. If you don’t feel safe leaving your things with your future roommates, you should rethink your decision to live with them. Trusting that your roommates will keep your valuables and you safe is very important in creating a stress free environment. There is nothing worse than being stressed during class because you are thinking about whether your jewelry, electronics, and other personal belongings will remain untampered with while you are out.
A tip for not being stressed out about your personal belongings is to find a hiding spot in your room that only you know about. Make sure it is a really tough hiding spot, because then if something goes missing, you will know someone was really looking hard in your room for something. Although, if it is an item that is in a communal space like the kitchen or bathroom, kindly ask your roommates to not use that product or appliance without permission or at all. That will give you a sense on the kind of people you are living with if they respect your belongings and wishes.
If you are deciding to live with people you are not very close with, but you still want to live together, you should postpone signing a lease before making your final decision. Something I wish I was told before signing a lease is that apartments do not all get gobbled up the first two months of the year. There will still be apartments around after February, but it does not always hurt to look in advance in order to get an idea of what is out there. Just think about who you are going to live with, and decide whether or not it is a good match. Trusting that you have chosen a solid group of roommates will make you feel at ease.
These three key components will depend on you in the end, whether you choose to apply them or not. It is not always easy to live with other people, but do not let it discourage you from experiencing life with roommates. Do your part to contribute as a roommate to make living together an enjoyable experience. In the end, you will see that these three key components will help you build a strong foundation with your future roomies. Happy apartment hunting!