A Guide to Roommate Agreements
A major concern when you’re starting university is whether you’ll get along well with your roommates. You’ll likely be sharing a space with strangers who may have quite different lifestyles to you. A key way to prevent issues is to create a roommate agreement. This may sound extreme, but it can be crucial in preventing conflict. When creating your agreement, there are a few things you need to consider.
1. Noise
You may like to assign times when the apartment will be quiet to be able to study. Obviously, you’ll also want to keep noise to a minimum while people are sleeping. If you intend to have a bedtime, communicate this with your roommates — it can be helpful to have a bedtime to maintain a regular sleep schedule, which will make it easier for you to wake up in time for class and have enough energy throughout the day. Plus, if you go to bed when your roommates are still out, it may be worth sending them a text to let them know not to make a lot of noise when they come home.
2. Chores
It’s important to agree to cleanliness standards for your apartment. To appease your roommates, this may mean you need to keep the place cleaner than you would if you lived alone.
To ensure you all do your fair share of cleaning (and don’t neglect any tasks no one enjoys), it’s helpful to have a chore schedule that you rotate. You’ll also need to agree how you’ll divide the cost of cleaning supplies and decide who is responsible for making sure you don’t run out of anything.
3. Guests
There are a few things to consider about having guests over. For one thing, you’ll need to decide whether you want to have times when no guests are allowed over to keep the apartment quiet. You may also decide to give each other notice before inviting someone over, especially if guests will be in the common areas rather than in your roommates’ bedrooms. Finally, you need to bear in mind that guests may be using your household supplies and eating shared food. Any roommates who have frequent guests may need to contribute extra to compensate.
4. Shared Spaces
If you have roommates, you’ll definitely be sharing a kitchen and living room and may also be sharing a bathroom. It can be difficult to figure out all the logistics until you start living together, meaning you may need to return to your roommate agreement at a later date to make adjustments. For instance, you may find it useful to decide who has use of the kitchen or bathroom at certain times. You’ll also need to set boundaries for possessions in common areas — if you leave something lying around, are your roommates allowed to use it?
Issues with roommates are far less of a concern if you have your own bedroom in an apartment than if you’re sharing a room on campus. You can find rooms to rent near Carleton University at the Revalie. You’ll be able to choose to share with friends or take advantage of our roommate matching service. In addition, we have bachelor suites and one-bedroom apartments to eliminate the need for roommates altogether. Whatever you pick, your bedroom and suite will have RFID secure electronic access control. Apply now to secure the type of floor plan you want.