There are many reasons as to why you would like to share a room with a friend. Firstly, not many people enjoy having their privacy invaded but there some cases in which all this is inevitable. A good way to start is to first meet and find out if there is a good understanding from both of you. Do you have the same ambitions? Are both of you comfortable with each other? Can you work together?

These questions are always important even if you have separate rooms in the apartment. Before ruining everything, first get to know your partner's temperament, are they reliable in case of a situation? Is he/she likely to cooperate with you with certain conditions? Make sure that all your behaviors match. If you love dancing, singing, partying then make sure you find a roommate who is into this kind of stuff too.

Before doing a checklist of all the above, it is vital to understand the person you are bringing over. This is important as you may end up sharing the same room for a considerable number of years. Remember that you are the decision maker here, therefore, all these decisions are there for you to decide i.e. whether you want to stay with a colleague, your perfect other or a friend. It is also important to make sure whether all of you have the same habits. Most roommates do not mind the organization structure of their rooms, but all these may change if all of you have inverse expectations. When you are hanging out together, think about whether there is chemistry between the two of you, can cooperate on various choices or decisions, have the same values etc.

Besides all that, communication plays a major factor in decision making. Are you able to converse freely with your partner? Does it feel weird talking about certain topics? If so, then I believe this is not the right roommate for you. Conversations should flow with ease despite the topic in the talk. Critical decisions should be made such as: -

• How much does each person get to pay for a room?

• Who gets to have the parking area space?

• What is the policy of bringing friends or relatives to your apartment?

• Negotiation of apartment responsibilities such as who gets to clean the apartment, pick up the trash etc.

Common interests with your roomie are essential to a long-lasting living plan, this helps give you anything to talk about. For example, if you enjoy watching football matches, having a roommate gives you a built-in football support partner. Roommates who enjoy coding can share various techniques plus help expose each other to new application designs. Having a partner who shares common interests will ensure that you always have at least one accomplice when you’re looking for something to do.

The perfect roommate may be perfect on all these, but have they got the financial ability? They should be able to be transparent with their finances and be expected to cater for unexpected expenses that may arise.