2008 03 11 Apartment Guide II

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APARTMENT GUIDE

march 11, 2008PrESENTED BY

Roommates: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly



ApArtment Guide2

mArch 11, 2008



F

inding the ideal roommate is never an

easy task. When one chooses to live

with a complete stranger, there is thefear of not knowing what to expect. At the

same time, there is no guarantee that living

with a friend is the best idea either.

When I was in middle school, I met two of

my best friends. We remained close through-

out high school and when we all attended col-

lege. However, they decided they were going

to live together before our junior year, and I

decided to live with another friend. I felt it

would be better for our friendship if I didn’t

live with my best friends because we all had

different habits.

Only a few months into their lease, each

of them began talking to me about how

they were getting annoyed with each other.

I would hear stories about how one would

never do the dishes or how the other only

sat around playing video games and drink-

ing — there was always something to com-

plain about. It got so bad that if I wanted

to hangout with them, I had to find time

to spend with each of them individually

because they couldn’t stand to be around

each other outside of their apartment.

My two friends don’t live together anymoreand although they have rekindled their friend-

ship, it’s still not quite how it used to be. Our

hope with this apartment guide is that you

have some better knowledge of how to choose

a future roommate after reading it than you

did beforehand. Happy roommate hunting.

ApArtment Guide 3

mArch 11, 2008

By matt [email protected]

o’s o4. Las

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sg 2008 kasa saf Editor Darla Slipke

Managing editors Matt Erickson

Dianne SmithSpecial sections editor Matt Lindberg

Design chies Drew Bergman

Kevin Grunwald

Photo editor Mindy Ricketts

Copy chies Elizabeth Cattell

Jef Briscoe

Kaitlyn Syring

Jyl Unruh

Advertising director Toni BergquistSales manager Katy Pitt

Advertising layout Austin Falley

Megan Gonzales

General manager, news adviser Malcolm Gibson

Sales and marketing adviser Jon Schlitt

Kansan Newsroom111 Staufer-Flint Hall

1435 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence, KS 66045

(785) 864-4810

a The University Daily Kansan

is the student newspaper o

the University o Kansas. Thisguide to picking a roommate

is the second o our

apartment guides published

by The Kansan each spring.

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ApArtment Guide4

mArch 11, 2008

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ApArtment Guide 5

mArch 11, 2008

By AlexAndrA GArry

[email protected]

Moving in with a boyfriend or girlfriend isa weighty commitment. It can be a sign of a

healthy and mature relationship, or a step toofar, especially before marriage. Although somepeople see living together as a risky move formany college relationships, college is whenmany young adults find serious partners, anddiminishing stigmas have lead many of thesecouples to “take the plunge” and live together.

John Wade, outreach coordinator forCounseling and Psychological Services atWatkins Memorial Health Center, said cohabi-tation could be greatly rewarding but must beapproached with caution.

“It is important to discuss everythingbeforehand — before your lives become sogreatly intertwined,” Wade said. “Everythingfrom finance to the most mundane things likecleaning and entertaining guests should be dis-cussed.”

Committing to cohabitation can meanmajor changes in a relationship and in theindividuals involved.

“One of the easy traps is to become over-dependent and neglect relationships with others,”Wade said. “Make sure you have balance — out-side hobbies and relationships. Living togethercan be great, but too much of a good thing can bea danger; if the relationship becomes your whole

world, bumps in the road feel very major.”Kaitlyn Kelly, Tonagnoxie senior, lived with

her fiance, Mark King, until he graduated inDecember. They lived not in a conventionalapartment, but the Theta Tau — an engineer-ing fraternity house. Kelly was looking intomoving into the house when she began herrelationship with King. After living in closeproximity, their relationship grew.

“Our situation let us get to know each otherbetter faster, and that was great,” Kelly said.“But we might have gotten too comfortable toofast, too. Instead of going on dates like otheryoung relationships, we’d just hang out.”

Wade said the best way to combat thesepitfalls was open communication between part-ners.

“One of the most important things is to notlet things build up,” he said.

Even with a healthy, open relationship, chal-lenges to cohabitation can come from outside.Parents, roommates and even friends can poseobjections or hesitations about a move in.Wade said that in this situation, too, open com-munication was key. He suggested sitting downwith doubters and explaining your decision.

“Discuss openly and respectfully,” Wade said.

“Parents may or may not agree, but they’ll know you’ve considered things, and you’ll look cred-ible,” he said. “It’s important to show you’velooked at your decision from a distance – whatwill happen if the relationship falls apart? Youof course never want this to happen, but there’salways the possibility.”

Despite the challenges, Kelly said livingwith her boyfriend was a positive, growingexperience.

“I think it’s a good experience overall — if you’re in a serious relationship,” she said.

After Nathan Pirie, Olathe senior, poppedthe question to Sally Doyen, Olathe junior,they decided an eventual move-in was the next

logical step.Doyen had often stayed at Pirie’s previous

apartment. Because of this, Pirie said, they felt cohabitation would mean few big changes.Still, they took the time to discuss finances and

rules before their move-in in August.“We made a point to make sure we were on

the same page on things,” Pirie said.Pirie said cohabitation hadn’t changed his

relationship with Doyen greatly, but had affect-ed his relationships with others.

“Without my old roommates around, wehave to make plans to go out, it becomes aneffort to do things with other people,” he said.

His former roommates were supportive of his decision to move, though.

Pirie’s and Doyen’s parents, however, wereless approving.

“Living together before marriage isn’t some-thing they really believe in,” Pirie said. “Butthey’ve eventually come to respect our choice.”

Doyen had a similar experience with anolder sister. “I value the opinions of my family,so it was hard at first,” she said. “But they haveaccepted that this is just what’s best for Nathanand I.”

Doyen and Pirie said that living togetherhad come with some challenges, but they feltcomfortable with the situation and the growthin their relationship.

“It is more convenient,” Doyen said. “I alwaysthink it’s silly when people always stay at some-

one’s apartment but don’t move in. If you’re thatclose, you may as well pay rent together.”

Pirie said his advice to couples consider-ing moving in together was to make sure therelationship was mature enough to make thecommitment, but also to not forget their partnerwould also become their roommate, and they would discover new habits and quirks in theother person.

“Living under the same roof, you see a lot of little things you never saw before,” Pirie said.“You see all the things that have the potential tobug you, but also the little things that can make

you realize how much you love her.”

Bas ss o aaay laos:

1. Don’t expect the other person to change

or conorm to what you eel would be the

“ideal” partner or riend.

2. I you fnd yoursel making a large com-

mitment, such as becoming his or her room-

mate, discuss in detail how the relationship

will change and express your expectations.

Don’t just assume the other person will pay

his or her rent or pick up his or her dishes

because you are riends.

3. Don’t let small tensions build up; be willing

and able to communicate your concerns.

4. I there is a dispute, be willing to com-

promise, and try to see things rom the

other person’s point o view.

5. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

6. Enjoy your time together, but know

when to give each other space.

Source: University of Texas

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ApArtment Guide6

mArch 11, 2008

By Michael holtz

[email protected]

Pet peeves — everyone has them, thoseidiosyncratic nuisances that crawl under ourskin. They are the little things that tick us off.

These slight differences can cause the clos-est friends to become full-fledged enemiesonce they live under the same roof.

So when it comes time to decide on room-mates, pet peeves are an important issue tokeep in mind.

The spectrum of roommate pet peevestends to be rather broad. It can include any-thing from a roommate being a complete slobto listening to a band such as Hellogoodbye inthe early hours of the morning (it does make agood prank though).

One of the most common pet peeves men-

tioned by students is having a roommate whois unwilling to do theirown dishes.

“One of my biggest petpeeves is my roommatesleaving dirty dishes in thesink when they could putthem away,” said RachelSeitter, Olathe sophomore.“It doesn’t take any longerto put them in the dish-washer.”

Having a roommate

who seemingly lacks theability to wash their own dishes is a signifi-cant pet peeve for many KU students. Somestudents simply resolve the issue by clean-ing the dishes themselves, but others turn toextreme solutions such as throwing dishesoff the balcony or in the trash.

As for Seitter, she usually sticks to thenorm.

“I usually put them away myself and thencomplain to [my roommates] about it,” Seittersaid.

Nick Ginther, Dodge City sophomore, is

in agreement with Seitter. Having roommateswho are unwilling to do their own dishes is at

the top of his pet peeve list. Another one thattops Ginther’s list is also quite common amongKU students — the “hearing-impaired TV afi-cionado” roommate.

In the case of Ginther, it’s not Sports Centeror American Idol that his roommates watch

too loudly — it’s the drone of gun fire and theoccasional grenade explosion of Halo 3.

“I just get tired of listening to Halo for hoursand hours,” Ginther said.

Ginther’s roommate’s entertainment systemincludes surround sound, making the steady reverberations of gun shots and explosionseven more audible. For the most part, Ginthersimply tries to cope with it.

“We kind of complain about it to each other,and then if we really need something to bedone, we do it,” Ginther said. “A lot of timeswe really just deal with stuff.”

Amos Christner, Abilene sophomore,has a pet peeve includ-ing consequences that gobeyond being annoyed orirritated by a roommate’sidiosyncratic nature: Hedoesn’t want his personalpossessions to be stolen.Christner said his biggestpet peeve was when hisroommates failed to lock the door when none of them were in the apart-

ment.“Anyone could walk in off the street if they

want and take my computer and trash theapartment if they wanted,” Christner said.

Although Christner has never personally experienced a robbery or break-in, he viewslocking the door as a preventative measure toensure that such incidents never occur, or atleast be less likely.

Christner said that his roommates agreedwith him and have been more inclined to lock the door when they were the last to leave.

“I just tell my roommates to start locking

[the door] and they have,” Christner said.Christner, Ginther and Seitter are all close

“I just get tired of listening to

Halo for hours and hours.”

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Max Rinkel/KANSAN

friends with their roommates, regardless of petpeeves. They agree that “just dealing with it” isthe best to approach to handling specific annoy-ances and frustrations. Even so, Christner doeshave some advice for those who have pet peeves

that are too unbearable to live with.“Don’t really just dwell upon it a lot,”Christner said. “Don’t get too frustrated. If youare going to get frustrated about it, talk aboutit with them.”

To assure that problems aren’t going to ariseas the year progresses, or merely to have a betterunderstanding of the roommates you chooseto live with, Ginther recommends laying downrules at the beginning of the year as to preventfuture conflicts.

Because some students choose to live withclose friends, Seitter argues that being overly

concerned with pet peeves will only cause thedeterioration of friendships.“Don’t dwell on stupid things and let them

get in the way of your friendship,” Seitter said.To recap, know that everyone’s different, lay

down ground rules, “deal with it” if possible, if not then share your concerns, and lastly don’tlet trivial pet peeves deteriorate friendships.

If you can follow these steps and as long asyour roommates are considerate and willing tocompromise, then your roommate pet peeveswill be a thing of the past.

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ApArtment Guide8

mArch 11, 2008

BY Michael holtz

[email protected]

Everyone gets angry or annoyed at his or

her roommate at one point or another.They might snore excessively, steal food

or listen to unappealing music while others

are trying to sleep. Yet these examples pale in

comparison to what some KU students have

encountered with their roommates.

dirty dishes

Ask Tom Cox, Shawnee senior, who shared

a place with his high school friend for two-

and-a-half years. The two rented a two-bed-

room apartment at Hawks Pointe during their

sophomore year.Cox soon became frustrated with his room-

mate’s unwillingness to clean his own dishes.

As the year progressed, the stack of unwashed

Max Rinkl/KANSAN

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plates, silverware and cups were left unattend-ed. Tom said he was angry not only because it“made the place look crappy” but because hewas concerned for his own well-being.

“It got so bad that

there was mold coveringthe stuff,” Cox said. “Wecouldn’t stay in the apart-ment because it smelled sobad.”

According to Cox, hisroommate’s reluctance towash his own dishes wasbecause of his newfoundobsession with World of Warcraft, the massiveonline role-playing game.

“He was just lazy and

was always playing World of Warcraft,” Coxsaid. “The dishes had to get done, and I endedup doing them even though half of themweren’t mine.”

Cox’s futile attempt at keeping the kitchenclean only caused him to become more frus-trated with his gaming-obsessed roommate.Eventually, he could no longer stand the sightof his roommate’s unwashed and moldy dishes,causing him to erupt into a fit of rage.

“I came home, and the smell was so badthat I couldn’t take it anymore and startedthrowing his dishes off of the balcony,” Coxsaid. “In retrospect, it wasn’t the best idea.”

Immediately following Cox’s furious ram-page he decided to take a nap. He was soon

awoken by the screams of his roommate whohad discovered the pile of shattered table-ware.

“I’ve never seen my roommate that mad atme,” Cox said.

In the weeks that fol-lowed, his roommatebegan to clean his owndishes, or the few thathadn’t been broken. Coxwas relieved, though headmits that his actionswere not that most admi-rable, or conventional.Even so, the two of themremained good friendsand roommates into their junior year.

“After awhile, it turned into a running joke,”Cox said. “Every time I would get mad at him,I would threaten to break his dishes again.”

Four’s Company

The student who shared the following story requested to be kept anonymous to avoidpotential confrontations. We’ll call him John.

While setting ground rules for their three-bedroom apartment at Meadowbrook at thebeginning of his junior year, John and histwo roommates agreed that they would limit

the amount of time their girlfriends would visit. The decision was made to prevent futuredisagreements or conflicts as the year pro-

gressed.“It’s easier to set rules beforehand rather

than make the policy later,” John said. “We

were just making ground rules for differentthings, and because so many people tend tohave problems with roommate relationships,

we just decided to deal with it then.”This truce was soon to be broken as one of

John’s roommates, who had been dating his

apartment Guide 9

marCh 11, 2008

Max Rinkl/KANSAN

On studnt ran into troubl when his roommate started selling drugs from their apartment. “It almost got to the point

where I didn’t want to go home because I was unsure of who would greet me at the door,”the s tudent said.

See bad roomates ON pAge 10

“I came home and the smell

was so bad that I couldn’t take it

anymore and started throwing

his dishes of the balcony.”

Tom cox

Shawnee senir

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ApArtment Guide10

mArch 11, 2008

girlfriend for a couple of months, gradually started having her over more and more often.John soon noticed a trend i n her unannounced

and often unwelcome arrivals.“The first week, she was at her dorm a few

nights. The next week, she was there maybeonce. After that, she was over at our placepretty much all the time,” John said. “Shewould only go to the dorm to change.”

John said that before long, her clothesbegan to accumulate, and she would even eatand shower at her new, self-proclaimed home.He also became frustrated with her failure tohelp pay monthly rent and utility bills.

“I didn’t feel completely comfortable thatmy apartment was not entirely my apartment,”

he said. “I felt that if I’m paying to live thereshe should to pay to live there, too.”

His frustrations didn’t end there. John saidthat hearing moans and other related sounds,you know, the kind that aren’t commonly associated with video games and homework,were regular occurrences late at night. Thefestivities taking place inthe adjacent room werenot solely limited to nightseither.

“Sometimes in themorning, I would wake up

to a thumping noise realiz-ing that it was them havingsex,” he said.

The accumulation of John’s frustrations eventu-ally sparked a verbal con-frontation with his room-mate, resulting in severalweeks of no communica-tion between the two of them.

John said that even afterthe argument, very little was resolved, and

their friendship slowly waned.“After living with someone for so long, it

usually is not the issue itself. It’s the accumula-tion of all the little annoyances over time thatall end up exploding over one thing,” Johnsaid. “Looking back on it now, it doesn’t seemlike a big issue, it just was at the time.”

livinG with A druG deAler

Take a minute and try to visualize the fol-lowing scenario:

You’re walking into your home after a long

day at school or work, and all you want to dois sit down and relax. As soon as you open thedoor, you are greeted by someone you’ve neverseen before.

Your other roommates are nowhere to beseen, and this person sitting on your couchand watching your TV is a complete stranger,not even a friend or relative of one of yourroommates who you’ve never met before.

Now imagine this happening not only once,but on numerous occasions throughout theyear. Now imagine if you knew what they werethere for drugs.

Stephen, a Seneca junior, experienced thisscenario frequently while living with his two

roommates in a house on Tennessee Streetduring his sophomore year. He said his room-mate sold marijuana and mushrooms, causing

much animosity in the house as the schoolyear progressed.

“My roommate and I didn’t even do drugs,”Stephen said. “It created a lot of problems.”

Stephen said he and his non-user roommatewould arrive home to the sight of unknowndrug-enthusiasts waiting for their dealer toget off a work. This scene would often occurlate at night.

“I would always be courteous to the peopleand start a conversation with them,” saidStephen. “It just created a state of being con-stantly on guard because I did not have a lock

on my door, and I do have a lot of nice pos-sessions.”

Stephen’s primary concern and discontenthe had toward his drug-dealing roommate wasthat he was often never there when customerswould stop by.

“He would have people there constantly,”Stephen said. “It almostgot to the point where Ididn’t want to go homebecause I was unsure of who would greet me at thedoor.”

Stephen, being the self-proclaimed neat freak heis, also became frustratedwith the house being in aperpetual state of untidi-ness. He said the constantcleaning was a bit unset-tling.

Although he was oftenannoyed with his room-mate, Stephen claimedthat they always got along

well enough to get by.

Stephen said that he never considered turn-ing him in to the police, and no physical fightsever transpired during the course of the year.

Even so, Stephen and his drug-free room-mate did consider asking their drug-dealingroommate to leave, an idea which was neverput into action.

“I don’t think he’s a bad person,” Stephensaid. “We are just two very different people,and I respect that.”

Even though Stephen managed to get alongwith his dealer roommate for the duration of his sophomore year, he said that they hadn’t

spoken since August. Following the end of their lease, Stephen and his roommate wenttheir separate ways.

“There isn’t much of a friendship beyondFacebook,” Stephen said.

Enlightened by his roommate experience,Stephen leaves those in search of future room-mates with a few words of wisdom –

“Find someone you can trust and that has asimilar lifestyle as your own. That’s what causesmost of the horror stories I have heard.”

bad roomates (continued from 9)

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ApArtment Guide 11

mArch 11, 2008

By Caity Lothamer

[email protected]

Lipstick, perfume, belching, beer cans,cologne and hair ties are are all factors thatyou could run into while living with someoneof the opposite sex. For Zach Loes, Olathesophomore, and Kailin Ryan, Plano, Texas,sophomore, living together has been a positiveexperience.

Loes originally started out living withanother male friend in their three-bedroom,two-bathroom apartment at High Pointe. Ryanentered the picture during the summer break when she needed a place to stay, but becausethey were all friends, everything worked out

well. This is their first year living together.“At first I was a little skeptical about itbecause Cameron and Kailin are such closefriends, but she is still a good friend of mine so

I was optimistic about it,” Loes said.For Loes, living with a roommate of the

opposite sex was an easy transition. Mainly

because the three friends had been aroundeach other so much their second semester of their freshman year.

“I was always in her dorm room with her. Iwould sleep over there all the time,” Loes said.

Loes said it was still a transition becauseeveryone was so used to having their ownspace, and some differences in time manage-ment. Loes quickly realized that if he wanted togo out with Ryan, he would have to inform heran hour a head of time, otherwise she wouldnot be ready.

Ryan’s transition was a little tougher.

“I had to initially get used to many new things that I wasn’t used to,” Ryan said. “I havenever been in a situation where I couldn’t justborrow something I needed that only a girl

would have. I have no problems living withguys, we get along great, it would just be niceto be able to borrow a purse or makeup every

once in a while.”The largest adjustments have been house-hold related, such as food, cleaning and takingout the trash.

“It gets hard when they don’t have as muchmotivation as a girl might have to take thetrash out or clean the kitchen; not all girls arenecessarily like that either,” Ryan said.

At first, like most new roommates, they did not share food with one another, but thissemester they share everything. Because thethree are such close friends, they have a lotof fun, and are still able to be honest with

each other. But honesty can sometimes leadto fights.“To be honest I don’t know many room-

mates that never have arguments,” Ryan said.

“I think we have a lot of ups, such as we arereally laid-back, but sometimes we all get intoour little moods where we just piss each other

off,” Loes said.Because living with Ryan has been a positiveexperience, Loes is going to live with anothergirl next year, but is optimistic that the evennumber can help solve some of the problemshe ran into this year when living with threepeople.

“My advice to anyone going to live with theopposite sex would be going into it thinkingpositively. It is a lot of fun. Yes there can bea little issues, but that’s with anyone. It takespractice,” Loes said.

Loes and Ryan say that they would be cau-

tious when choosing to live with close friendsbecause living together can ruin the previousrelationship.

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ApArtment Guide12

mArch 11, 2008

By Jason Baker

[email protected]

During apartment-hunting season, a toppriority for students is to find that specialsomeone they know well enough to live with.

But what about those students who decide toskip out on the roommate idea and just livealone. A few KU students went that route anddecided to go the school year without a room-mate.

Some students find that living in a one-bedroom apartment can be beneficial, becausethey don’t have to share space. ChristineD’amico, senior, Littleton Colo., enjoyed livingby herself.

“I’m pretty anal. I like to have all my stuff clean. It’s all mine and no one can tell me whoI can have over,” she said.

D’amico has been living on her own forthree years and originally did so because she

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ApArtment Guide 13

mArch 11, 2008

didn’t know anyone when she transferred fromWyoming.

“It was hard at first, because I’m pretty social,” D’Amico said. “Now I love it.”

However, some students may opt to live

on their own after living with one or severalroommates. Brad Miller, Olathe, junior livedin a house with several roommates during hissophomore year and now lives on his own.

“It was really fun, but impossible for me toget homework done.” Miller said. When Millermoved out, he still wanted to live in Lawrence,and at the same time be able to be successful inhis classes. He originally wanted to have one ortwo roommates at the beginning of the schoolyear, but decided to live alone as an experi-ment. He liked it so much, he plans on livingalone again next year as well.

Although the idea of living on one’s ownmay sound lonesome, some end up loving theidea after experiencing it first-hand. MillerDavis, Senior from Tulsa, Okla., had it happento him at the start of this school year. Like BradMiller, Davis didn’t plan on living in a one-bedroom apartment, but is glad that he did it.

“I’ve seen a lot of my friends who haveroommates fight with each other over little,petty things,” Davis said.

However, having an apartment does haveits downside, primarily with rent and utility payments. Miller said his payments were much

higher than when he lived with roommates.“I only paid like $35 a month for gas, elec-

tric, and cable and Internet; now I pay $100 forcable and Internet alone, and an additional $50to $60 for gas and electric,” Miller said.

Davis said not having roommates some-times made apartment upkeep more difficult.

“I’m definitely happier living by myself mostof the time. But there are times with thingslike cleaning and being able to share food andutilities, it’s less of a burden with other people,”Davis said.

Although Miller and Davis may not have aroommate to split the bills with, they do livenear their friends and say that helps the situa-tion. “Definitely live around people that you’refriends with. If I didn’t, it could get lonely or boring. That’s the most important thing,”Davis said.

D’amico said she was good friends with her

neighbors. “I live in complex of one-bedroomapartments, and I could go over there if I needto borrow something or hangout.” She said.

Miller has some advice for students whowant to live alone.

“If you’re someone who gets distracted eas-ily by having other people around, I think living on your own would be a great way to dowell in class, but still be able to hang out withpeople when you wanted to,” Miler said. “If you’re someone who can get things done withother people around, then I would recommendliving with roommates to cut down on the cost

and give you more things to do in your downtime.”

Krstn Hoppa/KANSAN

Mllr Das, Tulsa, Okla. , snor, rlaxs in his one-bedroom apartment at the Tuckaway apartment complex Thursday.

Davis said that living alone had its ups and downs, but it was a nice change of pace from having roommates.

LiviNg ALONe (continued from 12)



ApArtment Guide14

mArch 11, 2008

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ApArtment Guide 15

mArch 11, 2008

By Isadora rangel

[email protected]

Having a roommate is like marriage. Younever know what you are getting into until youstart living with someone.

Whether rooming with your best friend or acomplete stranger, the best way to avoid havingyour worst enemy sleeping in the next room isto know if your habits are compatible.

Potential roommates should make clearwhat they are looking for and establish someguidelines, said John Wade, outreach coordina-tor for Counseling and Psychological Servicesat Watkins Memorial Health Center. He saidthat housing stressed agreement between peo-ple, and they should be aware of their “rightswith respect of others.” Writing down a few guidelines is a good way to make rules clearand easier to follow.

These guidelines mainly involve daily hab-its. It is important to watch out for partyinghabits and noise because nobody likes to bewoken up in the middle of the night by a drunk or a loud roommate. Also, knowing how oftenthey bring friends over might avoid walkinginto your apartment and seeing strange faces

unexpectedly.Cleaning habits are a special category that

has to be looked at carefully. Both roommatesshould be compatible when it comes to clean-ing before they move in together. People withdifferent ideas of what a clean room is mighthave conflicts.

Rooming with friends has a good and abad side, because seeing each other every day might strengthen ties or cause conflict. It isimportant to know if friends have compatible

habits besides having compatible personalities.On one hand, some people end up having

a great experience. For Nick Frisby, Mariongraduate student, living with his good friendworked out really well and even made themcloser than before. Their laid-back style madeit work. “Both of us don’t mind the mess,”Frisby said.

On the other hand, living with friends canbe a bad idea for some students. Kellen Voss,Shawnee graduate student, decided not tohave roommates anymore after living with hismessy friends. “Don’t room with your friends

because you learn too much about them thatyou wouldn’t know,” Voss said.

Another option is to move in with peopleyou don’t know or with whom you are not

close. A lot of students find someone throughacquaintances or friends’ friends.

It is important to have some questions ready about potential roommates’ habits and back-ground. Also, get in touch with previous room-mates to know how their experience was.

According to Lindsey Spedding, Marietta,Ga., graduate student, it is easier to live withsomeone you don’t know because you end upbeing more respectful. She barely knew herroommate, but became best friends with her

after they moved in together.Whoever you end up living with, be aware

of legal and financial issues first. Keeping inmind a few things might avoid a headache inthe future.

Teresa Baker, tenant and landlord counselorat Housing and Credit Counseling Inc., advisespeople to know their rights and make suretheir future roommate really has money to pay for rent.

Don’t be afraid to ask for a copy of their pay-checks. Get in touch with their previous land-lords to know how responsible they were in

the past. If you want to go further, check theircriminal and civil records. Shawnee County provides this service online, but other countiesmight have different policies.

tipsHere are a few things you should do

before moving in with somebody:

1. Know if he/she is a morning or

night person.

2. Find out if you are going to live

with a party animal or a home-

body.

3. Ask how often they bring friends

over.

4. Talk to their previous roommates

and landlords.

5. Ask if he/she is a smoker in case

you don’t like cigarettes.

6. Know if they are tidy or messy.

7. Write down your guidelines and

rules.

8. Remember that good friends are

not necessarily good roommates.

9. Read the Tenant Handbook on the

Kansas Housing and Credit Coun-

seling Web site, www.hcci-ks.org/tenanthelp.htm.

Look at lifestyles to predict compatibility Whether you choose a best friend or stranger, finding a roommate can be a difficult decision

Take a virtual tour at LawrenceApartments.com

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2008 03 11 Apartment Guide II

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