As I interview people for the book I’m writing, I’m hearing stories about the nightmare housing situations. What is a nightmare situation? It’s when the comfortable feeling between housemates breaks down because of conflict that is unresolved, and communication stops. It is really awful. Home becomes a battleground. If you have lived a nightmare situation, [...]
“She seemed nice enough.” “He was well-spoken and gentle.” “We were friends and both needed a place to live.” These are real quotes from people who ended up being unhappy about their shared housing arrangements. What do they have in common? Lazy interviewing. All three neglected to really consider the interview and what they needed [...]
Moving long distance presents a challenge. How do you find a place to live when you aren’t there to see the place and to interview potential housemates? Some people make the trip for a weekend ahead of time and try to jam it all in and maybe they get lucky. I’m sure some do get [...]
Housemate Heaven is a website that presents 16 “lifestyle types”. The reader is asked to pick the type that best describes themselves. The 16 types are based on four basic categories: how personal property is shared, cleanliness of the house, the level of sociability between housemates and the attitude towards guests. It’s an attempt to [...]
