5 Rules to Keep All Roommates Happy

After moving into a new apartment, condo, or any type of home rental, it's important to talk about a few rules with your new roommates. Establishing these roommate rules up front will keep everyone on the same page and help keep the peace. Your home should be your place of comfort and solace, and having rules will ensure there's less conflict and more positivity in your new home. Balboa Realty, the leaders in OC Property Management are here to offer you the best rental tips.

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Money 

Money is always an awkward topic, so if you discuss it in the beginning you will avoid uncomfortable conversations later. Before you decide who is living in which room, come up with a fair agreement for what each room will cost. It's common for the rooms in homes to be different shapes and sizes so take that into consideration when figuring out how much each room will cost in rent. There are many ways to decide who will get which room, and if all else fail draw straws! 

Schedules

Everyone runs on a schedule and it might be very different from that of your roommates. Let each other know when you typically go to bed and wake up on weekdays and weekends so you know what to expect. Come up with a plan so that you're always respecting each other's schedules. Think about setting a house rule that quiet hours start around 11 PM and end around 6 AM on weekdays.

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Visitors

One of the most common complaints is about roommates having too many visitors come and stay over at their apartment. Remember that common areas like the living room and TV are for the paying roommates. Having friends come over and spend the night occasionally is no big deal and is usually fun for everyone, but if you have guests staying for weeks on end you can expect conflict to arise, so be sure to set up boundaries in the beginning.

Chores

After a long day at work the last thing you want to do is clean. It's understandable that cleaning might not be one of your favorite hobbies, but when sharing spaces with other people everyone must do their part. Outline all of the chores that need to be done such as taking out the trash, vacuuming, dusting, unloading the dishwasher etc. and split them up. You can come up with a chore calendar and do them together as roommates or on your own time. 

Bills

Bills, bills, bills. They come every month and there's nothing you can do to avoid them. It might work best for one roommate to have all of the bills in their name and then the other roommates pay them back, or you might think it's more fair for each roommate to put a bill in their name. Whatever works best for you, come up with a plan and stick to it. With the help of money transferring Apps like Venmo you can transfer money securely and easily to one another with just a click on a button.

Published on Friday, October 27, 2017