Please enjoy this post, originally published in January 2011.
Currently, as I have since my freshman year of college, I am living with roommates. I just moved out of a place where I had 3 roommates (plus one pesky dog) in a small, four bedroom apartment in downtown New Haven. It was a cramped little place, with only 4 small bedrooms, a mini-kitchen, and 1.5 baths, all on one floor. I now live in a slightly larger place, but it’s definitely not my dream apartment, either. Despite this, my rent is less expensive than anybody I’ve talked to in New Haven and I’m located about one mile from my job.
While the location is great, having roommates the past 7 years is starting to wear on me. I’m torn on what to do next when I move out this summer. Here just some of the many factors I’m considering:
The case for roommates:
I can afford a location I would not be able to otherwise. From my experience, single bedroom apartments are anywhere from 50 – 100% more expensive than renting out a room in a multi-bedroom apartment. This makes the cost prohibitively expensive with my income in areas like Boston and New Haven. In order to find a cheaper, single bedroom unit, I would need to move into a less-desirable area. At this stage of my life, living somewhere with restaurants, bars, and other fun things around is important.
Utilities are shared. Not only is rent more expensive in a single bedroom apartment, but, if I’m living alone, I have to cover all utilities myself. Internet, electricity, and heating can ad up to a a lot when it’s no longer split three or four ways.
Roommates provide company. While I haven’t enjoyed all of the roommates I’ve lived with, I’ve had many that I’ve gotten along with very well. I like having other people around to talk with, and I find it lonely when I’m all by myself. It’s a bit of an unknown when moving in with roommates that I don’t know ahead of time, but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
The case against roommates:
Some expenses are out of my hands. I’m typically a very energy conscious person. I turn out the lights whenever I leave the room, make sure my computer and other electronics are turned off when I’m not using them, and I like to keep the heat around 62 degrees. But roommates don’t always share the same values that I do. They leave lights on, forget to turn the TV off, and prefer the thermostat stay around 70. While my energy savviness often translates to savings on utility bills, I’m essentially helpless since my roommates just aren’t on board.
There’s less space. With roommates, I obviously have less space to myself. My bedroom is my own, but the other 80% of the apartment is shared. In a smaller apartment with little storage, this can be tricky to maneuver.
But more noise. Roommates can be noisy and may have a different sleep schedule. At my last apartment, I had to sleep with earplugs every night simply because my roommates liked to stay up late. The wall were also paper thing, and I could hear just about anything going on in the room next to me.
Other considerations: unwanted guests, damages, dealing with leases, cleanliness (or lack thereof), clash of personalities and all-out disaster.
Roommates are always going to be cheaper, but there will always be drawbacks, too. I will probably continue to have roommates in the near future since I still prefer to live in popular and expensive areas. If my income increases to a level that I can afford to live alone (or if I move in with my girlfriend), I’ll definitely consider moving to a single bedroom apartment. For now, I’ll do my best to choose my roommates carefully
$ $ $ $
photo by: army.arch
