Last Updated on 11/12/2024 by Rany Burstein
While living with roommates can be convenient and affordable, there’s always the risk that you’ll end up with someone who damages or steals your stuff, doesn’t pay rent on time, or simply drives you crazy. Our tips will help you choose wisely and minimize those chances of ending up with a bad roommate so that you can enjoy the benefits of living with roommates without having to deal with any of those negative scenarios as well.
1. Ask For Past Roommates References
While looking for your next roommate, make sure you ask them to provide you with past roommates’ references. Getting in touch with people who have lived with your prospective roommate before can shed like on what’s it like to live with them. If you have any questions about how trustworthy someone may be, call up their past roommates and find out from them if they would recommend living them. Needless to say that if your future roommate is struggling to provide you with past roommates’ references, you should see this is a potential red flag.
Tip: If you are using Diggz to find a roommate, you can already add references from past roommates onto your profile with a simple invitation via Facebook Messenger. This way it’s secure and legit.
2. Ask for a Reference from a Previous Landlord
If your prospective roommates has been renting elsewhere before, ask if they can get you a reference letter from one of their former landlords. Most landlords will provide these types of letters to past tenants so they can secure future housing. It would usually state the length of their tenancy and whether they paid rent on time consistently, as well is if they didn’t cause any issues or damages. Landlords usually ask these themselves from new tenants, and they know how hard it is to find a good tenant so they will be happy to recommend a trustworthy person. If your future roommate is just moving out from their parents’ house, or the dorms you might have to skip this one and relay on the rest.
3. “Stalk” them on Social Media
It might sound stalker-ish, but it’s not. Social media offers tons of information about someone — so use it! By stalking your prospective roommate on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter (or even Snapchat and TikTok), you can get an idea of what they’re like, their interests, and other factors that make them who they are — all before you meet them in person.
4. Discuss Pet Peeves and Deal Breakers
When it comes to roommates, everyone has their pet peeves and deal breakers. Some people hate dirty dishes in the sink, while others can’t stand rude behavior or extreme partiers. Find out what your potential roommate’s pet peeves are and how he/she deals with issues when they arise. No one is perfect so it’s important that you can both agree on things like rent payment schedules and cleaning chores. Also discuss who pays for utilities, groceries, rent security deposits or whether you will be splitting these expenses or paying them separately. You should also create a master list of items that must be included in your roommate, lease or sublease agreement along with other relevant information about who will be occupying each room in your house.
Tip: On Diggz, each roommate listing includes a lifestyle profile where you can see their typical sleeping hours, working hours, cleanliness level, vice habits, guests frequency, cooking regiment and interaction.
5. Run a Background Check
As strange as it may sound, running a background check is perhaps one of your best strategies for vetting potential roommates. Sure, it’s invasive — but you should feel comfortable knowing who you’re living with before moving in with them. And they should also be understanding about it. The good news is that background checks are easy to run and aren’t terribly expensive. There are many services that offer tenant screening checks, or simple background checks.
Your landlord might already ask to run a background check to add any additional roommates either to the lease or on a sublease. In that event, just check with your landlord that the check came back clear and nothing you should worry about.
6. Ask For a Security Deposit
When you’re searching for roommates, it’s important to protect yourself financially. You should ask for a security deposit on top of the rent price — an excellent way to save yourself some cash if things go sour with your new roomie. This helps reduce risk and is also good protection against damage done inside or outside of your apartment. If you both will be renting a new place, then your landlord will most likely ask this from you both. Each of you should cover their respective part of the security deposit. If you are planning to sublease an extra room to someone, you should ask and keep the security deposit.
7. Validate Their Employment
In addition to determining your ideal roommate’s personality traits, it’s important to make sure that they have a stable job and can financially support themselves while living with you. Otherwise, you may find yourself having roommates who pay their share of rent late or constantly need financial help from you. You can do an initial validation of your potential roommate’s employment by asking them for proof of their income and/or checking out their LinkedIn page. If they are students, then you should ask them how they pay for school, are their parents financing their education, do they work part-time or have a scholarship. You should assess if they will be reliable and responsible to pay on time.
8. Meet in Person
And finally, it goes without saying, but you’re better off meeting your potential roommate in person before signing anything. After all, he or she will be living with you for an extended time — for better or worse — so it’s worth taking some time to get acquainted with each other before making it official. If you two click, chances are good that you’ll want to spend more time together outside of living quarters as well, which is always nice. In the event that you aren’t able to meet in person prior, then at least make sure you have a video call and leverage Facetime, WhatsApp or have a zoom call.
We hope that you follow these tips and avoid a roommate horror story. Having a like-minded roommate always helps to reduce that risk and we can help finding them. With Diggz, you can get a sense of prospective roommates’ personality and lifestyle before even striking a conversation. So if you are ready to look for a trustworthy roommate simply start by creating your free roommate profile or room for rent listing on Diggz.
For other tips to optimize your roommate search, check out our ‘How to Find the Perfect Roommate Guide’ or our ‘5 Tips for Finding a Roommate Online’ blog.