Real estate..would you do it? advice?

well, as those who are friends with me on facebook know, my apartment building has decided to put up my rent about 60%.. making it unjustifiable for me to live in a shoebox for that much money per month lol basically, so I'm moving.
I have a friend I'm moving with and we have been looking at 2 bedrooms and having trouble but recently found a place that is interesting where there are 2 bedrooms available..the catch?

It's a 5 bedroom home, with 3 people already living there.

PROS:
- Rent is WAY WAY low. Place is rent controlled and they have been there for 4 years (It's less than half of what I'm paying now)
- The people are nice (young professionals, students)
- Rules are clear and place is big enough to easily fit that many people
- Free laundry
- Two full bathrooms
- Place is kept very clean
- Hardwood/marble floors
- They are dog friendly and would happily accept Merlin

CONS
- Holy crap it's 5 people in one home.

Should I take the leap? would you? have you lived with that many people?

I have, and would do it again if the the roommates were all nice reasonable people. How long have the individual folks lived there? If they've all been together for a while that means they're probably laid back enough to all coexist without much drama.

Do they have any contractual stuff to make sure chores are taken care of without anybody getting an undue burden? Do you share bathrooms or have a private one?

They have lived together for about 2 1/2 years and everyone seems to get along!

They have a chore chart system.. not sure if it's contractual though, I'd have to ask!
Not sure about the bathroom situation, another great question I'll have to ask. I know there are two full bathrooms but I'm not sure how it's separated or who uses which.

I have lived with three other people but not four. In college. It went...okay. One of them was a nutter and we didn't really have good ground rules to fall back on. And it was a 2-bedroom so each of us shared a bedroom with another person (I was not with the crazy one, happily ).

Honestly though living with young professionals who are already living successfully together and keeping the place clean...each person with their own bedroom for personal space... I would have a hard time passing that up, especially with the low rent and Merlin-welcome. Is there any particular amount of time you would have to stay, or could you leave fairly quickly if things didn't work out?

As long as your only hesitation is the number of people and not anything else, I would be open to trying it.

Sounds good to me! How easily can you get out if things go south? The onyl thing I would worry about it them spoiling Merlin, but if they'll respect rules/he'll be with you most of the time, it should be workable.

I think as long as the rules are spelled out up front it wouldn't be bad. It also helps that they are working people.


Now story time. When Ben was in college he shared a house with 5-6 other people and i won't lie to you, it was rough for him. They weren't the most respectful group, everyone's stuff was used and abused. I don't think they were bad people, just college kids. No one was used to cleaning up after themselves and were sure not cleaning up after other people, liked to borrow things without asking.

But i think moving into an established house, there are rules and basic understandings already in place.

Aren't you used to sharing your aparment with.... anyone who has a key? :rofl1:


I, personally, wouldn't but that's because I'm in a relationship and I don't really feel that that would be a good idea for my relationship or for my roommate's.

But, for you.... I say GO FOR IT! It sounds nice and, really, if that's the only negative (especially in a big city) it sounds like a deal too good to pass up.

Does each bedroom have a lock? I'd be a bit worried about so many people and their friends having access to my stuff...

I've never personally lived with that many people, but know quite a few who have, both successfully and miserably.

But: I also know people who (and have been myself) both happy and miserable with ONE roommate.

I'd say, in this particular situation, unless something jumps out at you, go for it. Chances are, if the people are already established and comfortable there, they aren't hiding any habits you'll clash with, unless they desperately can't afford rent and are looking for someone to move in ASAP. Usually the people who cause problems in those situations are the ones coming in from the outside.

Things I'd want to know beforehand:

1. What are rules regarding "quiet hours"/everyone's schedules?
2. Guests? Do they entertain larger groups of friends at any time? Host game night every thursday before your early morning class? Throw the occasional weekend party/are they willing to check with you beforehand or give you advance warning if they do?
3. Who pays for things like cleaning supplies, toilet paper, etc? With two people it's easy to split/rotate those things, with larger groups it gets more confusing.
4. How groceries are kept track of. With that many people, does everyone get a shelf, does everyone label their stuff, etc. With one roommate you just sort of know who's is who's...with 5 it's easy to mix stuff up.

I lived in a house with 5 other people my first year out of college. It was a humongous old remodeled house--6 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, 4 bathrooms.

It was awesome. I had my own space when I needed "Karen time", but I also had built in people to watch movies with, order pizza with, and play on kickball teams with They were all random craigslist people, but it worked out really well.

I lived with 5 for 3 years of college, and then 3 for grad school. They're roomates, you'll figure it out. Since then I think we've had at least 3 sets of family members and their families live with us during a transition period of their lives, some for as long as 8 months. Sure it's nice having all your own stuff, but there's a lot of fun in sharing with others too.

This. ^ Not only that, but if you have to leave Merlin, I don't know that I would trust somebody that I just moved in with to not do stupid things... Maybe I'm just overly paranoid, though.

Given what you've said, I think I would do it. It's an established household with polite people, and while it is a lot of people to live with, it sounds like you'll still have your own space. Granted, this is coming from someone planning on living in a triple dorm room next year, so pretty much anything sounds better by comparison

I wouldn't do it, but having said that, I have tons of actual friends who have asked me to move in with them and I won't, so maybe it's just me lol!

I think the 5 people thing wouldn't bother me as much as 2 bathrooms and 5 people would. What if you had to use the bathroom REALLY bad and someone was in both bathrooms? I mean, I live with 4 other people at my house, but there are 3 bathrooms, plus they are my family members and I can be like "GTFO I GOTTA GET IN THERE NOW!" Lol! I don't know that I could live with room mates though, just because I'm so afraid of confrontation or something bad happening and then you have to live there and it would be awkward, etc.

If you can move in and have the option to leave whenever you want (no 1 year contract or anything) then I would probably try it. Especially since its so much cheaper than what you had. And you may make really good friends with these people! Are they all women or is it women and men? That would probably affect my decision also.

I lived with 10 people once in a shared home.

Its hard work, but doable. I stayed there for 2 years!!

I've also lodged with people. I don't mind sharing but little issues very quickly become major issues if people have different ways of dealing with them.

You're young, its a life experience worth having. It can be LOTS of fun. It can be a nightmare...

I live with 5 people and 2 bathrooms - plus pretty soon a newborn, and my cousin will be staying for a while...so far it's never REMOTELY been a problem. I've also lived 3-4 people with one bathroom, and it was also never a problem. I can see if people are leaving at the exact same time for work, it might be, but you just sort that out with who showers/gets ready when...put makeup on/do your hair in the bedroom instead.

Even if it was a 1 year lease, I'd do it. 1 year is a relatively short period of time, even if 3 months into it you start to hate it. And, it sounds like a really great situation for a ton of students or younger working people, so if it's AWFUL like really, really, really AWFUL, you can get someone to take over the lease pretty easily.

I can see why some people would prefer to live with all women (or all men), but that wouldn't sway my decision in the slightest (maybe if I was the only girl, but your friend is coming too). The majority of people I know with mixed-gendered roommates are happier in their living situation than the people in an apartment with 4 other girls/guys...it could be a coincidence, but I think the dynamic is a lot better with a mix.

I've done 4 people in a little 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom suite (it was two couples). It was a bit squishy but worked fine. We were all friends previous to this, though. I've also done 4 in our current house, which is 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, and it is super easy, so much room, no problem. I think the trick is getting along with the other folks. I've always just had roommates that I'm friends with already, and even so, patience can wear thin about some things.

But I think go for it! It sounds like an awesome situation.

I lived with four other people last year and it went surprisingly well until the end with a dumb fight, which could happen anywhere and had nothing to do with the amount of people in the house.

One other person was my boyfriend, one was a cousin, and two were a couple I had met who were members at the dog park where I work.

They had 3 dogs, I had three-four dogs, and everything worked great. 2 shared one bathroom, 3 shared the other, we talked about expectations for dogs before they moved in, what was ok and what wasn't, every door had a lock but no one used one... it was about 2,500 sq ft so there was plenty of space, we kept colored labels on our foods and just asked each other what was who's and what could or couldn't be shared (like butter, ketchup, trash bags, paper plates, etc) and we were all pretty easy going and not bad to get along with/live with. If it hadn't ended so poorly over an iphone cord and some stressed students, I would say that I would do it again. If I had the right group of people..

Personally, I'd say go for it if you've met the people and like them, are comfortable around them, etc. Passive aggressive tendencies are what I have most often seen ruin roommate situations and cause fights and issues. If you can't be upfront with everyone about what you want and who's doing what, it probably won't work out. Just my .02!

Didn't end up working out.
I went back and met the people and the person I'm moving in with wasn't into it
- There were no locks on the doors
- It's month by month so people living there change quite rapidly (with no background checks or anything)
- Rooms were iddy bitty
- No system for whose food is whose

It just seemed disorganized and I feel like I wouldn't be comfortable. It felt like a hostel..well managed and clean but people coming and going and potential for theft, not really "home"

Sorry it didn't work out! :/

Hopefully you find something "homey" and affordable soon.