Excited about shifting out of your parent’s house for the first time? Got your dream job and landed up going abroad? It might sound a thrilling affair unless and until you sit and count the expenses that you have to bear each month and that too all by yourself. What if there was an easy way to cut the expenses to half without doing much ado? Yes, it is possible when you are willing to share your living space with a roommate. I have got you the pro tips to shift into a new house with a roommate.
So, here are the following pro tips for shifting into a new house with a roommate:
Reach out for recommendations
As you plan for shifting into a new place with a new roommate, the first thing that you should do is to search for the right one in the right way. Ask your friends, relatives, or neighbours if they know of someone who is looking for a roommate in the same area where you are moving to. You should also take the help of social media for the same purpose. Put a story on Instagram or share a status on Whatsapp or Facebook asking for recommendations.
Catch up for a meeting
If the former plan works, go ahead with this one. Make a list of the details of the suitable candidates who are eligible to be your roommate! Call them up and ask them to come to a public place and have a face-to-face conversation with you. Meeting them up personally makes things so much easy in the long run.
Have a sociable conversation
As you meet for the first time, have an ice-breaking conversation with the person. Be warm, observant, and amenable. Don’t be too stern, cold, and judgemental. The other person must feel welcomed and sociable in your company.
Know the whereabouts
Being comfortable with each other but do not forget the actual purpose of the meeting. You have to know the whereabouts of the person in front of you. Get hold of more details like their hometown, schooling, college, and culture. Don’t forget to converse about your hobbies and interests in co-curricular activities. In this way, you two can figure out which are your common fields of interest.
Discuss the expectations
As the conversation proceeds, be very clear about your expectations from each other. If two random people from two different cultures come to live together under the same roof, there is a fair chance of clashes happening now and then. So, it is very important to discuss your likes and dislikes; especially dislikes.
Set up boundaries
Expectation mismatch between you and your roommate can cause major disruptions in your daily life. After all, your roommate is like your family away from your home. Be approachable and yet make it a point to set up boundaries and maintain them later on. Make it clear if you want to share certain home appliances and who brings what appliance to the room. Moreover, make sure that both of you agree on sharing equal room rent, food bills, groceries, electricity bills, water bills, etc.
Carry out background verification
After you got to know the necessary details about your potential roommate, consider carrying out background verification. Check if the provided details are true or not. You can land up in extreme trouble if your roommate is not as simple as it seemed. Imagine being conned by a fraudulent roommate who robs all your possessions in your absence and runs away. To stay away from such scary scenarios, go for background verification.
Keep your possessions safe
Many of the apartments have separate rooms for roommates. Some of the apartments have single rooms with separate wardrobes for each tenant. Make sure that you have your possessions safe. Lock your valuables inside the wardrobe and keep the keys safe.
Share the load
As you stay together and share good and bad times, it is also important that you share the load. Come to a common ground about the cleaning, cooking, and dishwashing activities. If possible alter the roles every alternate day to maintain a peaceful and clean ambiance in the room.
Be understanding
Since both of you are from different families with diverse cultural backgrounds, it is natural for the other person to inculcate different habits from yours. Don’t judge each other for the diversity in your lifestyle, economic status, language, caste, race, etc. Try to learn more about their culture and let the other person know about yours. In this way, you can amicably blend in the company of each other.
Allow them some liberty
Every person needs some personal space and respect for that factor. Don’t try to intrude into their personal space by picking up the topics which cause them discomfort. Let the other person open up to you. Don’t poke the person to share their extremely personal issues with you. Allow them to be on their own for some considerable amount of time each day. You should spend some time alone and introspect about your present and future. Allowing each other space and liberty make the bond between you and your roommate an easy one. Nobody likes to be with an intruding roommate.
Be friendly but don’t over-share
Your roommate can be your friend but it is not a mandatory factor. Your roommate can be responsible, dependable, honest, inspiring, and a great human being. But that doesn’t make the person your friend. The person may not want to share his personal life with you. The person may want to split the room-rent with you but is not ready to split the bills in the pub every weekend.
A friendly person may not be a friend to be very honest. So, be careful of all information you share with your roommate. Share what is required and share things with time. There is no need to over-share all the information about yourself with a new person in your life. You can get along with time and share more about each other.
The Final Interpretation
As you aspire to start afresh in a new place with a new roommate, it is very important to choose the right person as your roommate. However, if you follow the above-mentioned pro tips for shifting into a new house with a new roommate, this article will help you for sure. Good luck finding a perfect roomie!
Also Read :- Packers and Movers Charges for House Shifting Services in Delhi