Ok, so I have a roommate moving in this week. Any serious suggestions?

[LynneSin]

Economic times have forced me to open up my house for a roommate. The good thing is this person will only be staying at my house for 4 nights a week. (She lives 2 hours away and goes home on the weekend).

I put together a rental agreement that seemed pretty fair but wanted to know if there were any other issues I need to cover.

EDIT NOTE: clearly no one is taking this seriously - so if you have serious advice please let me know.

[no name no slogan]

1. Does she get to sit on Joe Biden't Memorial Porch?

nt

[NightWatcher]

2. covert surveillance cameras all over the place

then you can lord over them from the comfort of your control room as you see all and know all.

[madinmaryland]

3. Most imporantly, Lid up or lid down??

[LynneSin]

5. It's a girl - I'd be scared if it was up all the time

:scared:

[madinmaryland]

7. Not the seat, but the lid!!

[Midlodemocrat]

4. Tell her never, ever tutch the but.

[Alexander]

6. Just be sure to keep the pentagram and ritual knife in the closet.

I sure learned my lesson.

[dawgmom]

8. Been a looooong time since I've had a roommmate other than Dawdad, but....

...my recollection as to things that caused the most conflict were:

Borrowing/Sharing of food (with the price of food these days, that's not a small issue -- even little stuff like a cup or two of milk here and there can add up nowadays)

Quiet time. If you're a night owl and she's a morning person, or vice versa, you should come to some agreement about your expectations of quiet during certain hours.

A related issue to quiet time: music. It's amazing how much music can annoy you, when your tastes differ dramatically. Discuss how loud, when, etc.

Visitors. Discuss how late is too late to call, how early is too early to call (if you're sharing a phone, I mean) and also how shared spaced is used.

[LynneSin]

10. Didn't think of the quient time - but I've already said no on 'visitors'

I don't mind company once in awhile but if she finds a *wink wink* she should *wink wink* elsewhere

[madinmaryland]

9. re: "EDIT NOTE" ARE YOU SERIES???

This is teh lounge!!

[LynneSin]

11. YESS ASSHOLE I'M SERIOUS

:grr:

Advice is sometimes dispensed here at the lounge. Not like I'm asking advice on how to perform brain surgery

[madinmaryland]

13. OK. Series question then. Does she love RUSH??

And clarify up front, which RUSH she loves. She also might be a Fox New Channel junkie. Just things to keep in mind.

[Gormy Cuss]

12. For the first month make a point to have a check in meeting with her once per week.

I mean a formal appointment to discuss how it's going. It's a opportunity to iron out the kinks of the arrangement. It need only be about 10 minutes (say over coffee or a beer.)As a boarder she is in a more tenuous position than if you two were sharing a rental and this check in will give her an easy way to bring up the "little things" that may grate on her but don't seem worth upsetting the owner, if you know what I mean.

After that you two will have an established rapport.

[underpants]

18. That is a good idea

[myrna minx]

14. I would address common area cleanliness.

If you are annoyed by dishes sitting in the sink or towels on the bathroom floor, I would address that right away. I would also address shared food versus buying your own food individually. I'm assuming that you've already addressed utilities, but if you haven't that should be worked out at the beginning of your roommate situation. Good luck!

[LynneSin]

15. Utilities are included in the cost

And after 3 months if I note more than 25% increase in my major utilities (water, gas, electric) then we would revisit what I charge each month.

I've cleaned out areas where she can keep her food but yeah, I have to figure that one out. I mean she shouldn't have to buy a bottle of ketchup, or salt or for that matter toilet paper - she can just use mine. I might suggest that if she finds herself using my food/toiletries that perhaps she could chip in a few extra dollars each week towards the food bill.

And when it comes to cleanliness I'm probably the problem - hopefully I can keep a bit neater than normal

[conscious evolution]

25. Heres what we do in our commune

Everyone pitches into a pool for common foodstuffs like milk.butter,eggs,cooking oil,etc...After that everyone buys what ever they want for meals on their own.
What we usually do is everyone buys their own breakfast,lunch and munchie food.Then each of us will buy dinner for eveyone once a week or so.
It seems to work for us.

[trof]

30. I remember the family 'kitty' for everyday expenses.

A cigar box in a desk drawer.
This was a long time ago.
My mom and I were living with her parents following her divorce.
Mom and granny each put in $5 in each week.
This was in the 40s.
That paid for groceries, the newspaper, milk delivery, etc.
When it got low, they had to 'feed the kitty'.
;-)

[yvr girl]

16. Communicate

Have a chat about expectations. Cleanliness. Quiet time. Food - are you sharing everything or do you each need your own salt and pepper shakers? Promise to let the other know if they are doing something that annoys you. Don't let it become an issue.

[Runcible Spoon]

17. Hide your pretzels or they WILL disappear.

It's like a basic law of the universe with roommates. Actually, best to hide anything that could be consumed drunk or it will get eaten by your roomie, their booty call, or their annoying brother who is "visiting" for the month.

[WolverineDG]

19. Doubt you'll have to use this but

what about some neutral party to mediate any disagreements that may arise that you can't resolve between yourselves? :shrug:

dg

[CreekDog]

20. Landlord wins

when it comes to boarders, I would insist on that.

having lived with many roommates, never as the landlord, i can tell you that it caused more problems when said roommates thought the landlord was running a charity/democracy.

word to the wise. not to lord it over her, but the authority lies with Lynne, not some 3rd party.

[LynneSin]

21. Yeah, it is my house and my mortgage

if this was a situation where we were sharing an apartment I could definately see an issue.

HOWEVER....

I think Wolverine has a valid point. If this person renting from me feels challenged what can she do.

I told her not to pay me until next week - let's try this out for a week to see if it even works. (although when she does pay it will still be for the entire month but if she leaves after a week I get nothing).

[WolverineDG]

22. the person I got this suggestion from used it with her son

It would give you both the opportunity to have your "side" heard. My friend only used it once with her son, btw. I'm not talking about resolving major disputes like rent, either, since those should already be covered in your agreement.

dg

[jakefrep]

23. Get it all in writing!

Especially anything related to money/rent.

[KansDem]

24. LynneSin, have you rented before?

If not, you might want to take a trip to your local public library and go to the reference department. There you will find several books on landlord/tenet relations. Legal guides, as well. And forms--you say you've already drawn up a rental agreement. You may want to take a look at the sample contracts offered in many of these reference sources.

Ask if they have the Thomson Gale Legal Forms link. Some libraries do. It's a database that will print off legal forms to be filled in.

Seriously, LynneSin, I work at a public library and if you knew the number of people I encounter who have tenet problems but don't know what to do, you'd be surprised. Most often these folks have inherited a house (mom's, for example) and decided to earn a little extra income by renting it out. Then they get the "Tenet from Hell" and they don't know what to do (legally). If they had come into the public library and did a little research, they could have avoided a lot of pitfalls...

Good luck! :hi:

[LynneSin]

26. If she's that bad the choice is easy - I change the locks

I work with her and she's very quiet and neat.

but I will make a trip

[latebloomer]

27. Yes, don't let grievances pile up

If something's annoying you, try to bring it up ASAD. in a relatively calm and direct manner. Otherwise, resentments pile up and you wind up wanting to bite the person's head off.

My MIL lives with us. So I know. :eyes:

[rvablue]

28. LynneSin, I had a relative do this several times

Here's my 2 cents:

make sure in the contract that you write up, that it's not just "4 nights a week" but that you actually discuss and then stipulate the days and times, kind of like:

((and I've never done this myself so forgive the language))


"The tenant will rent the room from Sunday at 3pm to Friday at 10 am."

Something like that. This will help you set up a schedule to know exactly when you will have private time and also the tenent showing up or leaving at any old time.

It might sound drastic (???) I don't know, but my relative did it this way and it really helped in defining the relationship. And it doesn't mean that things can't be flexible, but that they will call you/check in beforehand.

Also, might want to think about TV and the Internet usage. YOu don't want to miss out on your shows or DU, right?



Good luck!

[madinmaryland]

29. Especially if the hijack her DU account and start posting freeper crap,

and creating multiple sockpuppets tied to her ip address.

:scared: