Many students choose to share flats or apartments while studying. It can be a great experience and it saves costs. Christina Sng shares some tips on choosing the right flat mate and how to avoid the wrong one.

What to look out for

Good Students
The most important thing to look out for is that your flat mate is a good student whose priority is his or her education. Your priority at university is to get your degree. Having a good student as your flat mate will motivate you to do well or at least give you a strong nudge! Moreover if you are doing the same course, he or she may even be able to help you or take notes if you are ill so that you won’t miss out on any lessons. As his or her focus is on studies, he or she is less likely to distract you with a stream of friends always coming over, playing loud music all day long and late social nights.

"A good flat mate can motivate you to do well in your studies"

Local vs international
International students (students from countries other than the country you’re studying in) can be very dedicated to their studies as they know a large amount of money is invested on them getting that degree. While they will spend time seeing the sights and enjoying the new country, their priority will be their studies and this reflects in their grades.

On the other hand, there will be the handful of international students who are sent away unwillingly or only want to enjoy themselves. These students usually have poor grades and are more interested in going out and having fun.

In some countries, local students (students from the country you’re studying in) move out of their family homes during their university years as part of the culture, while others do not. If it isn’t part of their culture to do so and your potential flat mate is, ask why. If he or she becomes defensive about answering these questions, think twice about sharing a home with him or her as you may end up not feeling comfortable living with someone who won’t give you an honest answer.

Local students may also be more laid back about studies if they don’t need straight As to get employed after graduation. It can be very discouraging to see your flat mate relaxing while you slog for your exams and have to trek daily to the library to study.

Having a local student as a flat mate, on the other hand, can open you to the wealth of their culture. They know the best eateries and the best places to shop and go for coffee. You can do your grocery shopping together and if he or she has a car, take weekend drives around the country.

When screening your potential flat mates, ask them how they are doing in university and what classes they are taking. If you know people in their classes, ask these people more about your potential flat mate. Also ask what he or she likes to do in their free time and see if they are in sync with yours. If they regularly go out clubbing and drink and you don’t, be prepared to have your flat smell of alcohol every weekend and your flat mate trudging in at the wee hours of the night. Or maybe this is a good indicator that they are not the flat mate for you.

Partners
If your flat mate has a partner, it’ll mean that there will be another person around at home but you will have no guarantee that they will obey house rules. Too often, students complain that their flat mate’s partner eats their food, doesn’t help out with chores, hogs the television and so on. Even worse, some move in permanently and refuse to contribute to the living expenses.

A flat mate with a partner can cause additional tension and distraction. Think carefully about choosing a flat mate with a partner unless you know them very well, know their living habits and you are sure that they understand and will comply with the house rules. Another consideration would of course be the old saying ‘Two’s company, three’s a crowd? It can be very awkward to live with a couple. Unless you know both parties very well and know of their living habits, avoid a flat mate who has a partner.

Referees
Ask for a list of referees and talk to all of them before agreeing to your potential flat mate. This could save you a lot of potential grief in the long run.

There was a case where two girls rented a room to a guy with disgusting personal habits that surfaced only after he moved in. The main tenant later found out that he had moved eight times in the previous year and was kicked out of each place. After hearing rumours that he previously poisoned someone who evicted him, they lived quietly in fear until the end of semester when they terminated the lease. The two girls could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they had simply asked for and called his referees before agreeing to let him move in with them.

Mid-semester seekers
Most students rent for a full year, not moving out till the contract is over. If someone comes to you mid-semester, ask why he or she needs a place at such an odd time. Some may have legitimate reasons such as: the owner sold the flat and he or she was reclaiming it, their lease was less than a year and the owner was not renewing or his or her previous flat mate’s partner was moving in so there was no more room. Or it could be that the person was kicked out of his or her previous residence.

Contact with parents
Regardless of whether the student is a local student or an international student, ask for his or her parents’s contact details and speak with the parents to let them know that their son or daughter will be flat sharing with you. This is to make sure that the parents know where their son or daughter is and that your flat mate is comfortable with this transparency with his or her parents. If possible, get the parents to pay you directly every month. If not, you can be assured that if the issue of late rental or bill payments ever arises, you can always contact the parents about it.