oberon

For three years now I have lived alone. I have enjoyed living alone. But I think I've gotten back to the point where I would be comfortable living with other people again. I've changed a lot in those three years, particularly with respect to socialization. And I am going to buy a house pretty soon that very likely is going to be more space than I currently need. Unfortunately none of my friends need a room, so I am looking elsewhere.

So, that said... has anyone here rented out rooms in their house before, to someone you didn't know beforehand? If so, could you tell me how you went about finding them? Or if you have suggestions, that'd be nice too. I'm looking for younger people (20s-early 30s) who are mature. Perhaps that's too much to ask (sigh).

My thoughts lie mostly along posting want ads for roommates at the University of Colorado campus and on Craigslist. Then I would basically do an interview.. email screen, then dinner, then decide. Obviously there'd be a point where they get to see where they'd be living. On that subject it'd be nice to hear how others handled contracts, issues when they came up, etc.

Suggestions/comments greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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"There are finer fish in the sea than have ever been caught." -- Irish proverb

metalgeek

There are services like roommates.com... I posted mine, didn't pay money, and had people ask me about it.
I also used craigslist as well as posting in the university list.
I interviewed a resonable number of people, and ended up settling on a grad student.
If you're looking at the start of university, you should be able to find quite a lot of people.
I'd suggest grad students.. they're usually never home, and never really partiers...
I'm guessing your not looking for a new best friend, so try and find someone you figure you can cohabitate with. Ask about cooking, cleaning and the such.
(Personally I like to live with friends, were as some of my female friends perfer to live with males, take your pick.)

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Zeraph

Just make sure to set boundries, they shouldn't be allowed access to your computer or anywhere near any financial information (like if you have a specific room you do that in). Might be exceptions for the computer, of course, so long as they ask first, but no general use. My friend made the mistake of trusting his roommate too much (he let her use his computer which had some financial stuff on it) and she stole money (~$200) and some speakers from him.

oberon

Well, as far as trust is concerned, if they live with you you have to trust them at least somewhat.. since there really isn't much to stop someone who has a key to the house from getting into anything in there. But yeah, I'd discuss boundaries with a roommate candidate, before we signed anything.

I'm 24 & done with college, so yeah, I would probably get along famously with grad students. Thanks for the suggestions so far.

__________________
"There are finer fish in the sea than have ever been caught." -- Irish proverb

maleficent

any stationary store will sell a basic lease... pick up one -- read thru it -- and have your tenant sign it...

I'd also find out what the laws in your state are about evicting people if it comes down to it... (just in case... some states, like new york, the tenant almost has more rights than the landlord does)

Get a security deposit up front from the person (again, check your state, but generally this has to go into a seperate interest bearing account that the tenant gets the interest on -- you can't touch the interest -- it's there as a just in case)

Decide ahead of time what the house rules are... ie overnight guests, quiet times, household chores, entry of the room (are you allowed in the room at all )etc...

ask for references and check them -- but take them with a grain of salt... you might also do a credit check to see their level of responsibility...

would you require them to get a personal phone line or a shared line...

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MSD

In CT it is nearly impossible to evict a tenant. This unfortunate fact led to a situation in which a landlord of a three-unit house, who may or may not be my uncle, found out several weeks after everything was legally binding and irreversible that the two black tenants who had been living there for some time were sharing a house with a mentally unstable but surprisingly unarmed white supremacist.

Legal means were exhausted in the attempt to remove the now unwelcome resident, but luck smiled upon the landlord shortly thereafter and when he arrived to address his new tenant's lack of phone service, initiated a conversation that eventually resulted in an agreement to nullify the lease contract with his new tenant with no refund of the security depoist. Apparently, the tenant became aware of his lack of phone service when, during the course of the previous night, he was unexpectedly unable to obtain a dial tone [and was unfortunate enough to be living in a time period before cell phones were practical or economical for personal use,] which rendered him unable to inform the outside world of three midnight visitors wearing ski masks and carrying baseball bats who had come to welcome him to the neighborhood.

jizzmasterp

Haha, my high school economics teacher told me a similar story back in the day. No race issues involved, just a horrible tenant.

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shyr_15

try having a trial period of one month. if it doesn't work you can evict your roommate.

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oberon

Yup, I anticipate having a lease that's fairly simple and allows for a trial period of sorts (for both parties).

__________________
"There are finer fish in the sea than have ever been caught." -- Irish proverb

dawnoffawn

Why don't you remodel your house an make it a two family house with separate doors
to each floor. Rent one of the floors alone and that way, you dont have to worry about trust/privacy issues.