If you are looking for a relatively smooth transition from living with your parents to living independently, having a roommate is a good idea. Roommates can also come with financial benefits — if you have an extra room in your home you can rent it out to someone you know or you can live in an estate that is slightly out of your price range due to the divided costs.
You can even save money by renting a large apartment in a neighborhood that is within your price range. The price of rent and your utility bills will be significantly lowered.
However, before deciding or reaching out to friends who may be willing to share apartments, it is best to sit down on various factors such as what type of roommate are you looking for or how are you going to pay for rent and utility bills?
Side note
The American Magazine wrote an article on the attributes of a bad roommate these attributes are just to name a few:
A person who does not clean after themselves; eats your food without asking or even worse a roommate who does not pay rent.
https://www.bustle.com/articles/117011-9-signs-you-have-a-toxic-roommate
If you don’t plan or are not careful there is a risk of not experiencing the advantages of having a roommate or even enjoy living in your home.
Here are some some tips on how to have an enjoyable experience in your home with a roommate:
1. Your roommate should be someone you know or at least a friend of someone you know — For safety reasons that any other, it is pertinent to be very familiar with whoever you choose to live with; that way you aware about what they do for a living, know their immediate family, beliefs, pet peeves etc
2. Decide before you move in on how or what will each person pay for — A shared apartment is all fun and games until the bills start to roll in; so it is best to have a detailed outline on what is to be paid for (recommend using spreadsheet). A typical outline will cover things like electricity, TV subscription, gas, general maintenance and rent obviously. This will let everyone know their responsibilities and own them.
3. Lay down ground rules on how you are going to live together — It is important to talk about your preferences from the start. How loud you like your music, what time do you go to bed, do you stay out late etc. These questions are best answered before you move in with each other in order to avoid frictions while you live together.
4. Use peer-to-peer payment systems to make paying of bills less of a hassle — In Nigeria, Paga is a great solution for payments as you can either individually send money to your land Lord or let your roommate send money to you if you are the landlord.
Have a pleasant experience moving in with your friends using these steps!
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