Living with Roommates can be tricky. From personality clashes to a good old conflict on maintaining temperature — it’s nothing short of a Herculean task to find someone who is a perfect match. After all, you spend a huge chunk of your life with your housemate. This makes it all the more important to ask roommates questions about their lifestyles, personalities, and finances.
Your first few meet-and-greets with potential roommates should be viewed as an interview. Whether your style of interviewing is business casual or a Joey Tribbiani-style rapid-fire, you will need to get hold of some trusty questions to target in your next roommate interview. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel though, here are some tried and tested questions to ask potential roommates that we’ve put together for you.
Ice Breaker Questions to Ask Roommates
Start off your roommate interviews with some icebreaker questions to get them comfortable and relaxed. It will help you loosen the tension and allow the candidate to speak freely. Throw in some funny questions, like what character they would be from a TV show (of course, the candidate gets bonus points if they name one from your favorite), or some roommate bonding questions, such as how they handle conflicts or confrontations.
1. What three things would you look for in a roommate?
No, this isn’t a question that would be on your priority list. But it can help you assess what they are looking for in a roommate; friendship, mere companionship, or just looking to split rent. For most people, the qualities of an ideal roommate are honesty, strong communication, and respectfulness. Take a minute to delve deeper and understand your potential roommate’s priorities.
2. What are your hobbies?
Ask about their hobbies to get them to start talking. People enjoy sharing their loved hobbies and would likely feel good about being asked about them. Inviting potential roommates to talk about shared experiences, hobbies, or likes helps to break the ice and start the interview on a good note.
Lifestyle Questions to Ask Roommates
If you plan to live with a roommate, you will want to learn about their lifestyle, habits, and values. We looked at data from thousands of Diggz members’ profiles and found that while 64% of people prioritize cleanliness — they are not too obsessed with it. So, if your idea of a clean home is spotless insta-worthy living rooms, you should ask a few questions related to their cleaning habits. Some good questions to ask a potential roommate regarding their lifestyle are:
3. What is your ideal sleeping schedule?
You would be surprised about the number of conflicts that arise solely from having different sleeping schedules. If your roommate is pressing snooze six times at 6 a.m., like this Redditor’s roommate, you could be setting yourself up for a confrontation. Choose your battles and pick your questions wisely.
Questions regarding sleeping hours, routines, or habits are asked upfront when you sign up for Diggz, allowing members to discuss other things around the matter. According to data gathered, most people on Diggz are early risers, which should work well for college students or job-goers who need to maintain a regular schedule. Ultimately, having compatible sleeping schedules can lead to a better living experience and reduce potential conflicts.
4. What does a typical day routine look like to you?
Asking about a potential roommate’s routine could help both respect each other’s privacy and avoid using the bathroom or kitchen during the other’s routine. This can include their usual time to shower, cook breakfast, lunch or dinner.
5. How often do you clean your place? Any chores you especially dislike?
Having a sink full of dirty dishes can be a huge turn-off for most people. Asking about each other’s cleaning routine, how often they vacuum (or even know how to use one), do dishes, wipe kitchen counters, do the laundry, etc., can help determine whether your cleaning expectations align. Because one person’s ‘clean’ can be the other’s ‘messy.’
6. Are you still friends with ex-roommates?
Asking potential housemates about their relationship with previous roommates is a surefire way to assess how respectful they are. If your candidate starts spewing hate on every one of their past roommates, there is a high chance the fault may lie with them.
Financial Questions to Ask Roommates
The most important question for potential future roommates is likely related to their financial situation. After all, most people prefer living with roommates to cut costs and reduce financial stress. Asking such questions before moving in can help determine if your roommate is financially responsible and can contribute their fair share in household expenses. To get a good assessment of their finances in a way that doesn’t sound intrusive, here are a few potential roommate questions to target:
7. How do you plan to pay rent?
If you’re curious about your roommate’s employment status, it’s important to ask respectfully. One of our Diggz users shares that their previous roommate was difficult to live with because they had to coordinate with their parents to pay bills. To avoid similar issues, it’s best to ensure that your roommate has a steady personal income, which will help ensure that you are both on the same page when it comes to paying rent and bills. Remember, if you are both on the lease, you are liable for each other. If one roommate doesn’t pay, the landlord can take action against both roommates, even if you paid your share.
8. Are you comfortable with splitting the cost of shared expenses, such as utilities and household items?
It can be tough rooming with people who tend to keep score of who uses more water or electricity. It is always best to decide to divvy up shared expenses beforehand. You also want to make sure that you both are on the same page when it comes to cable, wifi, and streaming services. If you need fast WiFi, but your roommate is being stingy and won’t agree to share a faster plan then you might have to pay the difference on your own. That also goes for sharing streaming services and even old-school cable TV.
9. Do you have any outstanding debts or financial obligations?
Have an open conversation with your potential roommate about financial obligations, such as whether they are financially responsible for or supporting family members or if they are dealing with significant debt. It can help ensure that you both have a clear understanding of each other’s financial responsibilities and can avoid any potential conflicts or misunderstandings down the line. Someone with huge debt or financial obligations may not necessarily be a tough roommate to deal with. But, it’s always better to get their story in full to make a smarter assessment.
Personal Questions to Ask Roommates
There is a fine line between asking personal questions and coming across as meddlesome. We suggest you stay way past the line. Diggz roommate questionnaire takes care of a majority of personal questions you might want to ask a roommate, such as drinking and smoking, interaction level with roommates, and others. However, you should personalize your interviews according to your needs and find what things you need to discuss with roommates before moving in together.
10. How often do you socialize and have guests over?
You will want to know how social or extroverted your roommate is and what type of relationship they are looking for in a roommate. Based on our Diggz members, most wouldn’t want a friendly and cordial relationship with their roommate but don’t necessarily need to be best friends or strangers to each other. 47% of Diggz members indicated that they would like to socialize every now and then with their roommates.
And when it comes to guests and having friends over, if it’s too frequent, that’s likely a red flag. You also wouldn’t want to end up with a roommate you have to take permission from to invite people over. So, understand their social situation and let them know yours as well. As for Diggz members, most enjoy entertaining friends on the weekends, while only 13% indicated that they’d rather have no guests at all. You also want to keep an eye out for out of town friends and family members who might be staying over and maybe even occupying your living room for a few days. So make sure you don’t have any surprises later.
11. Are you currently in a relationship, and how often does your partner stay over?
Based on our Diggz members, it appears that around 77% of individuals seeking to share apartments are single. However, if you end up with a roommate who is in a romantic relationship, it’s important to have clarity on the frequency and duration of their significant other’s stays.
If their romantic partner starts staying over every night, it could result in unwanted changes to the living arrangements, making your roommate number go from one to two.
12. Do you have any pets, and if so, how do you take care of them?
If you are allergic to animals or merely dislike the prospect of living with one — this question should be at the top of your housemate questionnaire.
On the other hand, even if you do consider yourself pet friendly, always ask pet owners how they plan to clean up after their pets. Pets, after all, have accidents and require quite a bit of care. If your potential roommate is not a responsible pet owner, they are probably not worth the hassle.
Living Expectations and Rules to Discuss with Potential Roommates
If you have already moved on to the second step of roommate interviews, here are a few logistics to discuss before finalizing. Settling on rules and expectations beforehand could save you a lot of trouble down the road. To start off with a clean slate, add some of these to your own housemate questionnaire,
13. What is your work/school schedule like?
According to Diggz members’ profiles, there has been a significant increase of 300% in the number of people working from home post-pandemic. If you are considering sharing a workspace with someone, have a clear understanding of their work schedule and how often they plan to work from home.
To ensure a harmonious shared workspace, you should know the exact number of days or hours your potential roommate plans to work from home. This information will enable you to plan your own work schedule accordingly and avoid any potential conflicts or interruptions that may arise.
14. Are you comfortable with sharing common household items, such as cleaning supplies, dishes, and utensils?
While most people prefer keeping household items separate, certain shared items can help avoid unnecessary expenses. Ask your potential roommate how comfortable they are with sharing common items.
You can draft a list of roommate rules that serve all parties’ needs and interests. To begin with, it is advisable to identify which household items are most suitable for sharing. These could include everyday items, such as; cleaning supplies, kitchen appliances, and furniture.
15. What are good rules for roommates?
Give your potential roommate plenty of space to discuss things they have in mind. The question aims to ensure that both parties are on the same page and can respect each other’s needs and expectations before agreeing to share a living space. Consider deciding on a list of roommate rules to ensure complete transparency and respect for each other’s requests.
16. Any specific things you will want to include in a roommate agreement?
Roommate agreements should always be made while keeping all parties in check. If you are on the final call for your roommate interviews, get them in on the process and let them make any additions required to the agreement.
If they propose changes or additions to the living agreement, take it as an opportunity to understand their priorities and what’s important to them.
The Bottom Line
When it comes to finding trustworthy and good roommates, there is no one-size-fits-all. What you look for in a roommate is highly subjective. For some people, a good roommate could be one who becomes a best friend, and for others, all a good roommate needs to do is pay the rent on time. However, finances, personalities, and lifestyles are some basic questions to ask potential roommates to ensure compatibility.
Treat your roommate hunt like an interview and increase your chances of finding the perfect match. Diggz Roommate Finder has already done the legwork with their extensive list of questions, but why not take it up a notch? A fun roommate questionnaire can reveal even more about your potential roomie and make the process more enjoyable. So, let’s put on your interviewer hats and find your perfect roomie!