Moving Guide
Use caution when selecting a roommate
Choosing a roommate
CAREFULLY WILL HELP AVOID
HOUSING HORRORS
By Bryan Petersen
Oregon Daily Emerald
Moving. There’s no doubt about it
— it can really, really suck.
There’s the stacks of boxes that
inevitably get mislabeled, the
truck you either need to own, rent or bor
row, the actual physical moving of fur
niture in and out of narrow doorways
and up and down stairs and the cleaning
that must be done to get the deposit back.
All of these things and more can make
moving one of the biggest headache
causing events of a student’s life.
And if that’s not enough, those who
are unable to afford the luxury of living
on their own have to find a roommate.
There is so much to consider when it
comes to picking a roommate. Should it
be someone you already know? That
might work out, but you run the risk of
having things go sour and blowing the
friendship.
Somebody you don’t know could
work out, but it could just as easily turn
into a nightmare. What if you and that
person have different ideas on house
keeping? Or on house guests? What if
they turn out to be party animals, when at
first they seemed quiet and conservative?
What if they have a thing for barnyard an
imals running loose in the living room?
The point is, you hardly ever know
what you’re getting into.
This is a lesson that Lisa Rife learned.
Rife, a Chicago native who came west to
attend the University, answered an ad and
found herself living in a nice house close
to campus. But her roommates, whom she
had never met, but who seemed compati
ble at first, didn’t work out.
One major problem Rife experienced
was that one of the roommates had a
boyfriend who didn’t pay rent but was in
the house as much as those who did pay
rent and used the utilities equally as much.
“When I confronted them about it, it
was like they didn’t respect me, they
didn’t want to compromise with me, and
it just got really frustrating because they
just thought they were right, and I
thought they weren’t.”
She learned a valuable lesson that
many students would be better off learn
ing sooner than later:
“When you move in with people, even
if they seem cool at first, you never really
know what’s going to happen. Then,
when it doesn’t work, you have to pay to
move all over again. ”
While there is no cut-and-dried way
of picking the perfect roommate, there
are some steps that can be taken.
First and foremost, conduct a back
ground check. Ask for rental references
and character references. Find out ba
sic important facts, such the person’s
source of income and how many places
they have lived in the past year. Find
out if they have been kicked out of
places, and why. These basic and often
overlooked facts can be major indica
tors as to the compatibility of you and
your potential roommate.
If you don’t trust your own instincts,
there is a service that can help. Room
mate Resources is a business that is
solely dedicated to matching people
with compatible roommates.
Ann Story is the owner and manager
of Roommate Resources, and she said
nearly 80 percent of all customers end
up happy with their new roommates.
Customers fill out a lifestyle form, ei
ther a “seeker” or “provider” form. The
information is entered into a computer
database and matched up with other
compatible “seekers” and “providers.”
There is a $65 fee, which Story figures
will discourage potentially flaky people
from applying. In addition to die data
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Price includes mattress and box springs:
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Price includes mattress and box springs:
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