What Makes the Ideal Housemate?

The top priority, of course, of any good roommate is that they will make sure they can keep up their financial obligations to continue sharing the house. Temporary lapses may be forgivable, depending on the situation, but a roommate that is chronically coming up short on the rent is a bad roommate. Financial arguments comprise the largest source of dissension among housemates.

An ideal roommate will keep up their end of the chores. Differences in cleanliness preferences are another source of friction; neat people will resent sloppy housemates, and messy people won't enjoy having their lifestyle nit-picked. Whatever the individual neatness may be, there should be some agreement set up for who does what. A neat roommate may be willing to ignore a sloppier roommate's bedroom mess in exchange for a little help with some routine chores, like washing dishes. Whatever the arrangement, once it has been reached, a good roommate will do their best to maintain their end.

While house sharing is typically done for the purpose of lowering living costs, it doesn't mean that personality and lifestyle considerations don't matter. An ideal roommate should fit the character of the house. A meat-eater that likes to toss on a steak for dinner every night will quickly be at odds in a house of vegetarians. Likewise, a shy, mild-mannered person will be uncomfortable in a party house environment and will not be offering their gregarious roommates much besides a warm body with rent money. So, ideally, a house mate will take the choices and personality of their potential living arrangements under careful consideration before moving in.

Often overlooked, but still vitally important, is that any good roommate candidate will respect the privacy of their housemates. So no pilfering through their mail, gossiping about their habits or personal lives, or using their belongings without asking.