Avoiding the freaks (Choosing The Right Housemate)

Member Name: moonbailey

Product:	Choosing The Right Housemate
Date:	21/09/01 (128 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: meeting loads of people, making friends

Disadvantages: can be unlucky however hard you plan

I am a little uneasy writing this guide as my housemate is an active dooyooer - but hopefully she'll take this as a compliment!

I have a very useful technique for getting the best flatmates possible. It has developed through tried and tested experience through university and beyond.

My first piece of advice if you can possibly manage it, is to anticipate your need for housing early. So many students put off househunting until there is no choice and end up in dodgy housing with dodgier sharers.

Look early to ensure you've found a peach of a place that any likeminded soul would kill for, to share with you.

If you know there is huge demand for places and tons of people desperately looking, putting a deposit on a really great place isn't much of a risk and leaves you holding the cards of who you hand pick to share with you.

If you leave it too late, all the places are taken and you'll go from one to the next either liking the place or the people but rarely both.

Try not to share with all your existing friends together as their are always house rifts and it's so nice to have separate friends to winge to, who aren't involved.

Try and establish as much information as you can from potential new sharers before you meet them. Either by phone or email - it's amazing how much you can find out. If you have priorities such as really clean, tidy well behaved flatmates - or if you're out for as much fun as you can get in a year - say so early on - it'll quickly weed out people that you'll instinctively hate!

There's no point being ridiculously polite if it means you might miss out on a crucial social difference when it's too late.

Ask them if they like clubbing or country pubs? Are they a smoker? Do they cook or get take-aways? What time do they like to stay up until? Music tastes? If you're an early bird - it's a safe bet you won't get on wit
h a 2.00am rock head! Vegetarians sometimes like to group together to avoid kitchen confrontations. Bath lovers mix well with shower lovers in equal proportions because showers are generally a morning thing while baths are an evening wind-down - so no fights over times!

Other than that - a bit of variation is usually a good thing as it introduces you to new ways of life that might benefit you too, or at least give you a better understanding of others.

Meet up with people as soon as you can - if you really get on, great! but if you are in any way unsure, arrange another get-together to buy you some time and see more choices. It's always worth saying that one person couldn't make it to the meeting so you can blame any adverse decisions on them, to save face!

Sharing with more people can lead to a bit more mess on occassion but I find it diffuses problems by giving you more people to turn to in difficulties. Situations often diffuse quickly if not confronted daily until small things escalate into montrous evils. Plus other flatmates can usually offer a reasoned justification for the other parties misdoing.

Being the first person into a house and the one that found it usually gives you an advantage. It is generally accepted that if there is a problem with people in the house the last in is the first out - so this ought to give you peace of mind.

In all such situations, I refer to a former boss's moto:

'Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.'

Anticipate where you want to live and visualise who you'd most like to live with - and you'll most likely make it happen.

Summary: