As a young person moving to New York City on your own for the first time, life can seem both exciting and frightening at the same time. It might be exciting because you will finally be your own person. New York is full of opportunities and surprises, and you just cannot wait to run into them head first! However, the whole process can also be very scary. When you are living away from your parents, you will have to rely only on yourself, of the people you are living with. And when looking for a New York City apartment, roommates are a must to fight the sky-high rents that will greet you. So, after you are done prepare your parents for moving out, it’s time to figure out how to actually find a suitable roommate. That’s why today we give you our best tips for finding roommates in NYC.
Use all resources you can
Let’s face it – New York is a huge city. You will not be the only one trying to find the perfect roommate. This, however, does not need to be a bad thing. Just like you, there are countless people out there who are perfect roommate you might be! This makes finding roommates in NYC somewhat easier, although the mere number of people might frighten you.
The first thing you need to learn how to do is to figure out all the resources you have. Luckily, we are in an age where a lot of information is at our fingertips – online. There are many websites that can help you – so read up on them. Knowing just what you can use (as well as what you are looking for) can go a long way in helping you find that perfect roommate.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions when finding roommates in NYC
Another important thing you need to remember when you want to find roommates in New York is not to be afraid to ask questions. These will help you avoid (or fix right at the start) all common obstacles with roommates people usually have. So, be sure to vet the people carefully before agreeing to share an apartment with them. Ask them about their sleeping habits and how loud they can get. Talk about the chores and what they do in their free time. You don’t really want someone who’s super messy, or who parties every night when you want to study.
This will, of course, be easier when you know what you want. Because of this, you should sit down and come up with some reasonable expectations for your roommates before you start interviewing them. However, keep in mind that finding the ideal roommate is hard – and you will probably have to settle for less than that. However, a perfect roommate doesn’t need to be ideal – just someone who you will click well with. Watch out for the red flags, though. Anything that seems fishy about the person when you meet them is a potential problem long-term, so keep that in mind.
Consider your living situation
Another thing you need to think about is whether or not you already have an apartment in New York. There are advantages and disadvantages both of these. If you don’t have a place to live, then you might need to look for a roommate with an apartment. Conservely, the two (or three) of you might be going apartment hunting together. This might take some time, but you all can share the costs of a Chelsea moving company, for example, or deal with getting a lease together.
If you already have an apartment, then finding roommates in NYC comes with a set of challenges of its own. The potential roommates won’t just be judging you – but the apartment as well. Sometimes you might meet the ideal person to live with, but the location will be too far from their school, or just not to their taste. On the other hand, if your potential roommate has an apartment, you will be saving some money and usually won’t be tied to a lease. However, you will be a new person in this situation and will need to learn a new set of rules in a new building. For example, you might have just too many things and you will need to find Manhattan storage units as well.
What are the things to keep in mind
However you approach finding roommates in NYC, there are a couple of things that you need to keep in mind. The first thing to keep in mind is your safety. During the process, you will be meeting a lot of new people. Always do that after some communication, and do it somewhere safe. However, if the person is raising red flags from your previous communication, just deny the meeting and further roommate prospect.
Sometimes during this process, you might run into an open house. This happens when the landlord just doesn’t want to deal with countless showings one by one. They simply invite everyone interested in and host a gathering. When at these, feel like you’re at home – because it might be a future one. Mingle with people (potential roommates), talk about professional movers or future plans and go around the apartment. You will want to get a feel for it, as well as make finding roommates in NYC easier for you.
