Sometimes sharing an apartment can\’t be avoided. Not everyone who rents an apartment can afford to rent an apartment. It\’s brought on by necessity – school or university is a lot closer, wants to live separately from parents, etc. In this case, you need to cut corners, and one way to do that is to share an apartment.

What is apartment sharing and how does it work?

Apartment sharing is exactly what it\’s name says it is – to share an apartment. In the process you also share rent and utility bills. It\’s one way of living in an apartment that\’s way out of your price range.

So how does apartment sharing work? Do you share it with someone you know, or a complete stranger?

You can do either. Of course the best route is still to share the apartment with a relative or friend, preferably someone you\’ve known for a long time. It\’s safer this way, and living together will be a lot easier.

But if you don\’t have a friend who\’s in need of an apartment, or at least an apartment he intends to share, you can always look for other renters who are willing to share an apartment and therefore share rent fees and bills. I\’m sure there are others out there who are in the same boat as you.

Other things of note before you share an apartment:

1. Do a background check before you agree to apartment share
This might sound like you being too paranoid about your roommate, but it\’s better to be safe than to be sorry. Knowing your roommate has a \”clean\” background you can at least sleep at night with peace of mind. You don\’t want any surprises when it comes to the person living in the next room.

Some apartment owners check credit card information to verify the background status of their tenants. In your case, a simple apartment tenant, a background check should be more than enough.

2. Set boundaries on apartment cleanliness
Cleanliness is subjective, believe it or not. Some people are fine with a little mess in the living room. Others consider living in a garbage dump healthy living. On the other hand, even I know some people who couldn\’t tolerate a speck of dirt on the dining table. These are the compulsive type.

My suggestion is for you to set the standards of what is clean and what isn\’t as soon as the both of you decides to share an apartment. It\’s to avoid friction later on when both of you have settled in.

3. Safeguard your personal information
Be careful about being too comfortable with your roommate. People tend to be wary at first. But after a couple years, or even just a few months, for those who trust people too soon, they tend to loosen up a bit and share personal information like back accounts, credit cards, passwords, etc. Even your email password shouldn\’t be public information to begin with.

When the time comes when you\’re in a hurry and think you can ask your roommate to withdraw money for you, don\’t. Just do it yourself. There\’s a chance you might want to regret this decision later on. And nobody wants to regret anything concerning their financial information.

Follow these tips strictly to the letter when you decide to share an apartment.

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

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