Roommate Guide: How to find a good roommate

Questions to ask potential roommates, search apps, roommate agreements and how to avoid conflicts

Trying to find a good roommate? Well, others may be looking for you. Many people are looking to share a home — and the rent — with another person. Getting a roommate is a savvy way to lower your expenses so you can save more and spend less time worrying about money. We’ve got great tips for how to find a good roommate and keep them!

Know what you want in a roommate

Many people are looking for roommates. As rents rise, more and more of us are sharing homes out of necessity — or for saving up to get ahead. According to Pew Research, in 2019, 20% of households are “doubled up” or shared living spaces with a roommate of some kind. A Zillow survey found that one out of three Americans aged 23 to 65 live with roommates. 

Roommate arrangements range from harmonious to downright hostile. The key to finding a compatible roommate is knowing what you want and vetting them properly.

A good starting place is to take a hard look at yourself. What are your expectations about the following?

• Cleanliness
• Overnight guest frequency
• Party habits
• Schedule  
• Food diet preference
• Shared values — religion, sexual orientation, politics, etc. 
• Introvert vs. extrovert
• Communication and conflict management style
• Occupation
• Smoker
• Pets
• Rental/credit history

The more you can share about your preferences — and the more direct you can be about asking a potential roommate about theirs — the greater the chance you end up with a good match. 

How to find a good roommate

1. Friends and friends in your personal network

Ask for roommate recommendations from your friends and family members to see if anyone you know has a friend looking for a place to live. You’ll likely get referrals pretty quickly.

Consider reaching out to other networks like your gym, sports club, alumni network, or church group as well. Exhausting all of these resources first is a great way to find someone that you may already know or that you at least have something in common with.

2. Co-living: Comfortable shared housing with roommates built-in  

If you’re looking to find an affordable place to live — especially in a big city like San Francisco, LA, Miami, and New York — try shared housing services like Bungalow, Common, or Coliving. You’ll be able to get a room in a comfortable house with new-ish furniture, appliances, utilities, and Wi-Fi included.

Leases are flexible — typically for four to twelve months. Roommates who don’t know each other prior to moving in are picked based on the likelihood that they’ll enjoy each others’ company.

3. Social — Facebook Groups, Reddit, Instagram and Twitter

Using social media and forums is a useful way to notify your followers that you’re in search of a roommate. 

• Facebook Groups —  If you’re moving to a big city, you’ll likely find a very active group discussing apartments and roommate situations. Facebook Groups also give you the ability to view people’s profiles, photos, interests, and social connections at no cost — giving you a jumpstart on the interview process. 
• Use Instagram posts and Tweets to let your online community know you’re searching for a roommate. 
• Reddit — This forum hosts all kinds of niche pages referred to as subreddits. If you haven’t used Reddit before, you can find a subreddit for just about anything. Finding city, county, and state-specific housing subreddits can lead to great roommate leads.

7. Roommate finder apps

Like a dating app, an online roommate finder lets you browse potential matches and pick and choose who you’d like to vet further. Have an open mind but don’t lose sight of your top priorities. 

1. Roommatch.com

Roommatch takes you through a series of questions from religion and politics to lifestyle and interests, not just for you and your potential roommate, but in terms of the type of living space you both prefer as well. There’s even a roommate quiz you can take to see how closely you match with a roommate. It’s free to use. 

2. Diggz

Diggz lets you find rooms for rent and roommates to fill your empty room, or partner up with someone to find a new place of your own. The app connects you with like-minded roommates with similar lifestyles and preferences using a proprietary matching algorithm paired with human eyes to detect bad actors. 

It’s free to sign up and use (create a listing, search roommates, send and receive messages). You can upgrade for premium features like boosting your profile and extra search filters, starting from $8.99 per week.

3. Roomster

Roomster lets you scroll through dozens of prospective roommates and message them directly. The site lets you link to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn profiles, making it easier for you to research your potential roomies.

It’s free to create a profile and post a listing with images (and also to receive messages from paid subscribers) but you have to upgrade to connect to social media sites and use the onsite mailbox. A three-day trial is $5.95.

4. RoomieMatch

RoomieMatch promises you to avoid “a horde of total nitwits” when you sign up with them. Actual humans review all roommate profiles and they actively work to eliminate scams, bots and other unwanted spam before it gets to you. You can create a free profile, which allows other users to contact you. However, features are limited for free accounts. It’s only $19.95 for a yearly membership.

5. Roommates.com

A Roommates.com basic membership is free — you can add listings, browse profiles and send messages. To read messages from other members, you’ll need to upgrade to VIP Membership: $5.99 for a 3-day trial, $19.99 for 30 days, and $29.99 for 60 days. 

6. Roomi

Roomi is a great site to find rooms to rent in existing homes and apartments, with flexible time periods ranging from 30 days to 1 year or more. Roomi also verifies your background and collects the first month’s payment. 

It’s free to create an account, create a listing, search for roommates, and message other users. You have the option to pay a one-time fee to boost your listing to the top of the local search results. The paid accounts start at $2.99 for three days.

Top 7 roommate conflicts to avoid

If you assume that your job is done once you’ve found a good roommate, you’re in for a surprise. No matter how well-matched you might be, living with someone takes intention and a commitment to resolution. Here the things roommates most frequently argue about:

1. Cleanliness (or lack thereof).  Not sharing equally in the cleaning, from dishes to taking out the trash, or even small annoyances like leaving half-full coffee mugs around the house can cause major problems.
2. Smells. Everything from personal hygiene to food. Hopefully, you can root this out in the interview process or agree to guidelines afterward. 
3. Not paying expenses fairly.  When it’s time to divide up the bills, food, or shared expenses, it can be really annoying if your roomie doesn’t pick up their fair share. A roommate agreement can help with this. 
4. Noise. Not aligning schedules and/or having different preferences when it comes to TV and music volume can easily disrupt your personal space lead to resentment.    
5. Sex life. Everyone deserves to enjoy intimacy and sex, but that doesn’t mean you want to see or hear it. If their significant other comes over every Sunday, are you okay with that? 
6. Sleeping in your bed. Not cool if your roommate sleeps in your bed or lets their friend crash there without your permission? It’s a frequently reported complaint. 
7. Borrowing/taking/boundaries. From eating your leftovers to borrowing your favorite hoodie without asking. Or worse: money, earbuds, a laptop charger. Find a roommate with a similar sense of boundary and ethics. And, whenever possible, both of you should carry renters’ insurance in case you borrow something and break it.
8. Relationship expectations. One roommate may want to be super tight friends and the other doesn’t want to invest emotionally.  

11 Crucial interview questions for finding a good roommate

While interviewing prospective roommates, take a pseudo-dating mindset. Roommate relationships are almost as intimate as friendships or romantic relationships, but make sure you meet up to screen for key compatibility areas. Here are sample interview questions to ask when vetting roomie compatibility:

Roommate agreements

Taking on a roommate is a big contractual commitment. Make sure both of you are on the rental lease and sign the agreement. In addition, write and implement a separate roommate agreement.  

Roommate agreements are legally binding contracts that both you and your roommates agree to and sign before living together. The roommate agreement is made between tenants and is not part of your lease agreement with the landlord.

We aren’t talking a Big Bang Theory/Sheldon version of a roommate agreement, but a simple 1-2 page document outlining what is most important to minimize future conflicts. 

What to include in your roommate agreement

• Pets. If you have one, or if you plan to get one, then who’s responsible for pet fees and damage? 
• How you pay rent. Together or separately, evenly or is rent based on room size?
• Schedules and private time. Do you need to block hours? Does either of you work at home? Compromise and spell out time blocks in the agreement. 
• Splitting bills. Who pays what when? How do you share utility expenses?
• Moving out early and subletting. Life happens and plans change or maybe you are incompatible. Agree in advance as to how much notice you need to give, how you handle roommate replacements, and how the security deposit gets returned. 
• Food sharing. How will the food, grocery shopping, and cooking responsibilities be shared? Will you split the costs?  Can you eat each other’s leftovers in the refrigerator or do you agree to label foods off-limits? 
• How to resolve conflicts. Agree to meet monthly to check in and see how it’s going. And, how you handle major and minor offenses? Always verbally in person or is text sometimes okay? 
• Cleaning and chores. What will each of you agree to do daily to respect boundaries as well as weekly to keep your place in good order? The kitchen and bathroom are two shared spaces that usually need to be cleaned the most. Agree on a cleaning schedule for those spaces at a minimum. 
• Guests and parties. Are there guidelines to agree to in advance for sleepovers, friends hanging out, and parties? 
• Temperature expectations. Agree to a comfortable heat and A/C setting to avoid conflict. 

Once you have discussed each topic and written up a formal roommate agreement, have everyone sign and date it. Congratulations! You have now successfully written and executed a roommate agreement!  

Looking for more roommate advice? Check out our Roommate survival guide!