Roommates

20 Questions To Ask Potential Roommates

TwitterPinterestFacebook

Looking for the perfect roommate can be tough. You encounter different personalities, and it’s hard to know what kind of person will be a good fit for you to live with. When you start the interview process on a prospective roommate you found on Craigslist, Facebook, or any of the popular roommate finder apps, you have to ask the right questions prior to coliving. Here are 20 questions to ask potential roommates.

What are their habits? 

1. What time are you usually in bed? 

Find out the sleeping habits of your future roomie and whether they sleep early or really late. Are they a morning person? Are they a night owl? Your sleeping schedules can be similar or complete opposites, so find out ahead of time to see if it’ll work out logistically, especially when sharing the bathroom and setting quiet hours.

2. Do you smoke or drink, and how often? 

Think about the environment you want for yourself, and work from there. Get an understanding of their lifestyle choices and how they’ll affect you. This is an important question for both your mental and physical health, as well as compatibility in lifestyle.

3. Do you like to cook? How often do you cook?

All the pain points of sharing a kitchen can be avoided when you share this kind of information. If your new roommate likes to cook, maybe you can bond in the kitchen or share some meals together. Make sure you also come to a roommate agreement about how you clean up after yourself and what the protocol is for sharing utensils and food. Establishing roommate rules as such can help avoid any unnecessary disagreements or misunderstandings in the future.

4. How often do you clean? 

You might receive a variety of answers here, and it can help you generally gauge their cleaning habits and if they are a messy roommate. Usually, this isn’t a deal-breaker since you’ll have your own room, but it’s always a good idea to set standards early on for chores and how neat you like to keep this shared space.

5. Do you usually invite friends over or stay out late? 

Try to get an idea of whether people will be over often or if your roommate will be coming in late or have overnight guests. Will you need to get extra keys or have an emergency set under the rug? You’ll have to compromise with your housemate and find a common ground where everyone’s privacy and space are respected, especially if one of you is not as comfortable welcoming unfamiliar guests into your home.

6. Do you expect to have overnight visitors?

If your future roommate is going to have overnight guests, and this isn’t something you agree with, you’ll have to set boundaries with your new roommate. Think about how it’ll affect your lifestyle or if you’re open to that. Asking this important question in a potential roommate interview can help you determine whether a person is a good fit.

7. What do you need to sleep? 

If your potential roommate needs dead silence to sleep, can you accommodate that? If they prefer to fall asleep to light music or TV, are you the same, or will this interrupt you?

What is their schedule like?

8. What do you do for a living? What’s your career plan? 

What your future roommate does for a living may affect the way you interact. You should ask them what their work schedule is like and get a sense of their income to make sure you can both afford rent and not affect each other’s professional lives.

9. What’s an average work day for you? 

Find out what their job entails on the daily. It’ll be good to know the professional life, so you know when they’re busier than usual or when they’re stressed out about work.

10. Do you ever work from home?

If your roommate is a freelancer or a digital nomad, they may work from home often. Find out if they’ll need a specific area to accommodate their work or if they’ll work throughout the home.

11. What’s your daily or weekend routine?

Do they go to the gym after or before work? Do they go for a jog every morning or attend a creative class every weekend? Who knows? Maybe you share similar interests and you can go together.

How are they as roommates?

12. What do you expect from a Potential Roomie? 

While finding out if they’re a good roommate match for you, think about how you’ll be a good match for them. Are your habits and lifestyle decisions something that your roommate is looking for in a prospective roommate?

13. What do you think about shopping for groceries together or sharing storage space?

Ask if they usually shop for the home or just for themselves. With that, do they feel anything in the fridge is open to anyone, or are certain items for certain people? This is a question to avoid roommate conflicts.

14. What happened with your last roommates?

It’s good to know about any past discrepancies this person may have had with past roommates. Listen to the reasons they left, and decide if that would pose a problem with you in the future.

15. What Were Some of Your Living Challenges with Past Roommates?

This can help you visualize what this person is like when a discrepancy arises, and what they consider to be a discrepancy. It will also give you insight as to how they handled the living situation.

What are their preferences?

16. What’s your favorite food or cuisine?

This question will let you know what kind of food may frequent the kitchen! 

17. What do you do for fun?

Find out what hobbies you have in common. This can spark a fun conversation and help you get to know what kind of person your potential roomie can be outside of your home.

18. What are your pet peeves?

Knowing someone’s pet peeves ahead of time can really help avoid messy living situations. Think about your own pet peeve and your habits when listening to this answer.

19. What’s your opinion on pets?

If you have or want a pet or you’re allergic to any, you’ll have to address it early on.

20. Are you allergic to anything?

Know if they’re allergic to anything you may already have in the apartment. This is a good time to list your allergies as well. Prevent any health issues ahead of time. Now that you know all the right questions to ask a new roommate, you can find the perfect roommate. You’ll find out all of the important things about the other person as you live with them, but it’s always good to be prepared and ask things ahead of time.

At Common, you don’t have to go through the process of searching for a good roommate and asking these questions ahead of time. We do it for you. All of our coliving homes across all major US cities have large, furnished suits and community lounges where you can bond with your suitemates and ask important questions. Whether you’re a night owl or morning person or a frozen food lover or a chef, you’re welcome at Common. For one all-inclusive rate for coliving, you can expect a private bedroom, high-quality furniture and appliances, coworking spaces, and incredible amenities with utilities and high-speed Wi-Fi included.

Have any questions? Take a free tour today and find your home!

Related posts: