Looking for a roomate?

August 20, 2001 7:20 PM

Looking for a roomate? Going through a Sept 1 move in? Trying to avoid the "finders fee"? Sure the local apartment listings and papers are useful, but the best I could find are the roomate wanted or apartment listings. Any suggestions on others? How would you conduct an interview in deciding to fill a vacant room with someone you don't know? Makes you want to just buy a house and be done with it, but is home buying/selection easier?
posted by brent (14 comments total)

Craigslist dude. Best resource there is.
posted by mathowie at 7:58 PM on August 20, 2001

Roomates suck! At best, you turn a good friend into someone you'd barely nod at on the street. At worst, you get a psycho who (a) pees in the basement carpeting, (b) shoots guns out the back window into the dumpster, (c) "accidently" walks in on you when you're having sex, twice in the SAME NIGHT (d) flattens your frying pans, (e) allows his pet boa constrictor to roam around the house on the pretense that "it'll catch mice," (f) takes the power bill money and doesn't pay the power bill, and (g) steals about a hundred of your best albums when he fnially leaves.

Live alone, brent - nothing good can come of this roomate search.
posted by UncleFes at 8:23 PM on August 20, 2001

Two words dude, "References Required."

Call his boss, his previous landlord, whatever cretins he lists as his friends. If you can get a credit report that's all the better, but hey.
posted by ilsa at 9:32 PM on August 20, 2001

Fes,

Were all of the listed actions performed by the same roommate? Cause if they were...damn
posted by Optamystic at 9:44 PM on August 20, 2001

All of those annoying popups gave me a headache.
posted by MegoSteve at 9:45 PM on August 20, 2001

did Apple make make roommateservice.com?
posted by howa2396 at 9:51 PM on August 20, 2001

Were all of the listed actions performed by the same roommate?

Yep, same fucking guy. I mean, he wasn't exactly Single White Female - I was never in any, you know, danger - but he was a pain in the ass without peer. We were roomates for about a year, and I *still* miss those albums. Bastard!

And if there was a mouse in that house, I'd never seen it - but I couldn't tell you how many times I'd be putting the moves of some girl and she'd spot that goddamned snake. You want to see the possibility for getting it on plummet to negative numbers, introduce a 5' snake into the general environment. Double Bastard!
posted by UncleFes at 9:58 PM on August 20, 2001

You want to see the possibility for getting it on plummet to negative numbers, introduce a 5' snake into the general environment.

A lament that John Holmes carried to his grave.
posted by Optamystic at 10:17 PM on August 20, 2001

one of my roommates kicked ass. she's clean, she's doesn't tell me what to do with my personal space, she got liquor, we had plenty to talk about... of course for guys it's more a slight bit more difficult to find cleanliness/ conscientiousness, but not too much more difficult. lots of girls are dirty inconsiderate slobs.

when you interview a prospective roommate you're thinking: i'll just ask gratituous questions like if they're clean, what they do, stuff like that... but i'll be smart and observe how they carry themselves, look at their finger nails...... but at the same time you're worried that they can really put on an act, or you're too gullible.
that approach is way too scientific. if you can consciously look for it, they can consciously hide it.

you must must must must must trust your instincts. vibes, not friend viability vibes, but vibes about their personal habits, that stuff you can't name. it's mismatched socks or you barely saw as they walked in, or tension in their speech you kind of heard but didn't really register, but which your subconscious noted.
trust your instincts.
posted by elle at 11:00 PM on August 20, 2001

BTW, Roommateservice.com is actually pretty useful, if you get the "Choice" membership. (The "Basic" service is a total joke. It tells you of potential matches, but you have to pay if you want to see them) Hint: if you sign up for the basic service, then deactivate your listing immediately, you will will be directed to a page that asks why you canceled. If you select "I can't or won't pay for Choice membership" you'll get a free 30 day trial.

Ethically questionable? Sure, but so is stealing Apple's page design.
posted by Optamystic at 11:14 PM on August 20, 2001

If you're concerned about what kind of roommate you're gonna get, wait until they come over to your place for an interview, then, if you seem compatible, ask to go see the place they're living now. Right now. Go directly from your place to theirs without giving them any chance to clean it up and see how they really live. %)
posted by kindall at 11:17 PM on August 20, 2001

Even better, ask to see their underwear. If it's clean, you're home free.

I won't go over what to do if they don't have any. Use your best judgment.
posted by gleemax at 11:52 PM on August 20, 2001

No matter what you do, you never know what you're getting. I had no clue that my roommate's sister liked to listen to rap. Or that she liked to listen to rap at 8:30 in the morning. Never thought to ask, because I never thought anyone would do that.

You never think to ask what their weirdest quirk is.
posted by stoneegg21 at 4:22 PM on August 21, 2001

How about a roommate who closes his laptop violently and rests his elbows on top of it's closed lid every time you approach to say, "Hello!"

I ask, "What are you working on?" He is obviously working since he keeps on refering to a book as he types. "Translating," he says. "Oh."

I mind my own business, but weird never-the-less. I'm glad he has no snakes.
posted by ericrolph at 12:21 AM on August 22, 2001