Living with a roommate can be hard, even if you already know that person well. Living with a roommate whom you did not know beforehand, though, can be both awkward and a little bit uncomfortable if handled the wrong way. But if you properly vet applicants before deciding to live together, then your chances of peaceful cohabitation increase dramatically.
When interviewing a candidate to be your roommate, try to do so in person to get a sense of his or her personality, style, grooming habits and mental health. Don’t worry about asking too many questions: it’s best to get everything out in the open from the beginning so that problems don’t arise later that could have been avoided. Here are some preliminary interview questions to pose to prospective roommates:
Responsibility Questions
• What do you do for a living? How long have you been at your job? How secure is it? Do you have emergency savings just in case?
• How long do you anticipate staying at the apartment, and are you willing to co-sign the lease?
• How much is your rent now?
• Have you lived with a roommate before? What did you like/dislike about that experience?
• Why are you leaving your current place?
• What are your apartment security habits? Do you always lock the door/windows? Do you have any other apartment safety tips that you follow?
Compatibility Questions
• Which bedroom in the apartment are you interested in?
• What are you looking for in a roommate?
• Are you more of an introvert or extrovert?
• Do you have a pet or plan to get one?
• Do you like the apartment temperature more on the chilly or warm side?
• How do you like to eat, and how will food be shared?
• Do you have any food allergies?
• Do you want to share cable/Internet/Netflix, etc.? What do you think is the best way to handle paying the rent and utilities?
• How do you feel about sharing stuff, especially personal items?
• How do you think that we should handle buying shared supplies like toilet paper, garbage bags, etc.?
• How do you think that we should handle cleaning?
• How loud do you listen to music/TV?
• Do you recycle?
• What is your decorating style?
Lifestyle Questions
• How do you feel about overnight guests? How often do you expect to have visitors over?
• What’s your schedule like?
• Do you smoke?
• How do you like to socialize and relax?
• What do you like to do on the weekends?
• On a scale of one to five, with one being messy and five being a neat freak, what would you say you are?
For even more new roommate questions and discussion tips on how to avoid ending up with a bad roommate, check out these articles from Trulia, LifeHacker and Apartment Therapy.
Cait Kilpatrick is a native New Yorker and college graduate who has lived in (small) rented apartments throughout her entire life. She dabbles in interior design and was a collegiate soccer player. She is also an unapologetic Anglophile who excels at juggling multiple shows on Netflix and organizing DVRs.
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