We have all been there thinking that life would be fun after moving out of your parents’ house. Moving out for college is the first time you get to be by yourself and take charge. We all have dreamt of renting a room to live independently.
While we dream of late-night parties and utter freedom to do what we want, moving out is certainly more than what it looks like on the surface. Straight from finding rooms for rent online to finding a roommate and settling down your stuff, nothing is easy. Using a trusted roommate finder might help, but roommates in real life are different from those in sitcoms.
While some of you would find this article relatable, for those who are planning to move out, it might be an eye-opener for you while looking up rooms for rent to make a new home.
Let’s burst some bubbles now!
Here are some expectations and realities of renting a room.
- Expectation: You’ll find your ideal rooms for rent on the first try/visit
Reality: You are fortunate if that happens, but you should never go for the first room you visit. The trick is to look up for room rentals in a planned manner with a budget constraint and see three to four places to have something to compare while finalizing. While looking up rooms for rent, use a roommate finder to make your way easily through the rental process.
- Expectation: Perfectly lovely room precisely as the landlord stated as “recently renovated.”
Reality: You will find dirt everywhere, tools lying on the floor, and of course, a lot of pending cleaning on the day you are moving in. No room will come in perfect condition, ready to move in that you can just bring your stuff in and settle it down within a day. This might be true when you share the house with the landlord, but no one wants to share a room rental with their landlord.
Source: GIPHY
- Expectation: You’ll connect with your roommate on Day 1.
Reality: Let me burst that bubble for you that you would just have awkward conversations for a week, at least. Especially when it’s your first time living in such a setup, ice won’t break instantly.
- Expectation: You and your landlords will have the perfect relationship; even a leaking faucet would be fixed within 24 hours.
Reality: It’s all on you once you move in. No landlord would do that for you. No matter how punctually you are paying rent, you would always have to clean up when the landlord comes to visit. Well, the faucet is leaking for a month now, still waiting for the landlord, though!
- Expectation: Late-night parties, having friends over, and partying like you never did before.
Reality: In many cases, loud noises past 9 PM may not be allowed because the neighbors next door are a family of four with two kids. Sad but true. You don’t want to fight them for sure because it is for the KIDS!!
Source: GIPHY
- Expectation: Fully stocked refrigerator with things you will get from the grocery store with your roommates during your weekly grocery shopping.
Reality: Wake up! That’s just a dream. You will have to mark your belongings in the fridge, and someone will still eat that. Grocery shopping is done only when the fridge gets empty in your room rental. Also, no one would cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for you. You need to take care of yourself.
Source: GIPHY
- Expectation: All issues and conflicts of interest would be resolved with a calm, mature, and respectful discussion. You and your roommate would come halfway to make a mutual decision.
Reality: There will be a lot of yelling, door slamming, and absolutely no halfway compromises. Your roommates would be a pain, but in the end, they would be good friends to hear about your day.
- Expectation: All chores would be done correctly according to the schedule you and your roommate made while sharing your rental room(s).
Reality: No matter how much you divide the chores, your roommates would keep avoiding the dishes like they don’t exist until one of you can’t take it anymore and do them.
Source: GIPHY
- Expectation: You and your roommates would be a big happy family.
Reality: Yes, you will be a family, but I doubt the happy part. Finding a roommate is as tricky as connecting with them. You will share the house, rent, and chores and would never stop fighting for belongings or about “Who ate my leftover pizza? “
- Expectation: You’ll be F.R.I.E.N.D.S for life.
Reality: Finding roommates who connect and share that Joey-Chandler bond is rare. Not all ex-roommates stay in touch, and sometimes you would be happy when the annoying roommates would move out. Even after you move out, you won’t be connected that well, and they would probably have a new communication channel without you.
However, not every roommate only fights and yells. They also are a family away from home, and they do support each other in tough times. No matter how much you would fight with each other, they’ll have your back all the time.
- Expectation: You will never find the perfect roommate and the perfect room for rent.
Reality: You do not find them instantly, but eventually, after sorting and listing, you surely will. You can use a trusted roommate finder to find roommates you can trust and choose from genuine listings of room rentals.
Expectations may always not meet reality, but at certain times they do. And, if they are the good ones, you couldn’t be happier! Looking up rooms for rent for a new comfort abode and finding a roommate is a tough job. So, do ensure you spare enough time to look up various room rentals to choose from and also to have a budget planned to look for your ideal room for rent without burning a hole in your pocket.
