Renter’s Advice and Resources

Moldy dishes, dirty clothes, spoiled milk, mildewed shower tiles, bags of garbage (or, worse, garbage scattered all over the apartment), overflowing litter boxes, and a toothpaste-laden sink—living with a messy roommate can be a unique form of odorous, cluttered hell. Regardless of how you found your roommate—through the world wide web or through a friendship of ten years—you’ll probably need to address the issue of apartment cleanliness at some point in your rooming relationships. This article contains tips for dealing with a messy roommate in a constructive way. You might not be able to persuade a persistently untidy individual to help keep your apartment absolutely pristine, but you should be able to make your situation much more tolerable.

For a lot of young and/or single folks, choosing to go in on a lease with a good friend makes sense on a lot of levels.

Learn how to navigate living with your roommate’s significant other. Tips for managing boundaries, communication, and maintaining a peaceful living space.

Finding a good roommate is as difficult as finding a good life partner. The chemistry has to be right. You don’t need to agree on everything, but there does have to be give-and-take, mutual respect, and open, honest communication. And much like taking a leap into a romantic relationship, there are no guarantees that the […]

Roommates can be like family. Think about it: you’re with them every time you wake up in the morning, you probably share a lot of meals together, and you split up all the household responsibilities.

Living alone certainly has its perks — especially if you’re a bit of a lone wolf — but it can also be really expensive. When living with roommates is a necessity for your budget, how do you deal when you consider yourself an introvert?

Everyone has their own slightly weird preferences and habits. After all, we might not feel at home without all those posters of our favorite 80s rock bands or daily 5 AM yoga sessions. For the most part, roommates with different styles and schedules can work out agreements by doing whatever they want in their own […]

Thinking of renting a place with your friend? It isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but it isn’t right for everyone.

If you like animals but aren’t ready for the responsibility of owning your own pet yet, having a pet owner for a roommate can seem like a great deal. You benefit from many of the perks of having a pet with a fraction of the responsibility. Of course, things don’t always go smoothly. Your stuff is just as vulnerable as your roommate’s is to cat scratches and stains from dog urine. If your roommate’s hamster escapes its cage, it becomes your problem as well. When you agree to live with someone who has a pet, it’s best to figure out where to draw the line of responsibility before things go wrong.