An apartment can be expensive.

This is not an exaggeration. An apartment may not have the warm feeling of a suburban house or not as luxurious as a condominium unit, but take my word for it, renting an apartment is not cheap, especially when you\’re a student living away from home. Not all apartment renters are professional. Students, teenagers rent apartments all the time.

That is the problem. Not everybody can afford an apartment. But the good new is, there\’s always a good news, you can probably afford to share an apartment. That\’s a big relief on part of the apartment renter.

What is apartment sharing?

Apartment sharing is allowing another person – a relative, a friend, or a fellow stranger – to live in the same apartment so you can share rental fees. You could even share utility bills depending on usage. Sharing an apartment is a big help for those who are working on a tight budget.

What are the things you need to know before deciding to share an apartment with a roommate?

Here are a couple of pointers:

1. You might get on each other\’s nerves
Two people living together don\’t always get along. In fact, they tend to get so annoyed with each other and become worst enemies. You need to put this into consideration especially if you\’re planning to share an apartment with someone you\’ve known for a long time.

What you need to do in this instance is to set boundaries right from the beginning. Who cleans the bathroom, who washes the dishes, your privacy rules especially when friends of the other comes over. If you lose a stranger roommate, it\’s fine. You\’ll find another one. But if you lose a friend roommate, you just lost a roommate and a friend.

2. Sometimes roommates tend to slack when paying their bills
There are times when your roommate doesn\’t receive his allowance from his parents, or he didn\’t get his paycheck on time, etc. There are a lot of reasons and it\’s impossible to account for them all. In short, your roommate won\’t be paying rent.

Make sure to make this clear on the lease contract – that he pays on time and every time.

3. Sharing more than just the rent
Your roommate might get comfortable and try to borrow some of your stuff. This is a major consideration that you have to think about. If you\’re okay with him borrowing your things, then go ahead. If not, set it as a boundary right before he moves in, that you don\’t appreciate sharing your personal stuff.

…And many other things
There are a million things that could go wrong when apartment sharing. It\’s impossible to account for them all when planning boundaries, rule and regulations. Your greatest weapon here is diplomacy. You should always try to talk things out in a civilized manner when some things are starting to offend one of you, so the both of you could work it out. Negotiate, and renegotiate. Both of you are benefiting from sharing the apartment anyway.

Follow these tips and may you find the right person to share an apartment with.

Author Bio: Do you live in Calgary and looking for an apartment? Are you interested in a Calgary apartment for rent? Come visit our website at RentMidWest for more information on Calgary apartment rentals.

Category: Real Estate
Keywords: calgary apartment for rent, calgary apartment rentals