How do you find a flatmate?

How do you find a flatmate? Good flatmates are so important when sharing a home, especially when older. Generally speaking, you need to find someone who shares the same values and standards as you for a successful share.

When you’re younger you tend to fall into groups more easily. Everyone you know wants to experience living away from home for the first time, so there is a choice. These groups don’t always work out of course, but as it’s the first time for most people then it doesn’t matter so much. You can, however, change groups or find new flatmates easily enough.

But when you’re older you not only have to work a bit harder – that’s where Cohabitas aims to help. On the plus side you also have more experience of flat sharing or in some cases of living in a family home. In short, you’ve acquired better knowledge about your own likes and dislikes. There is less chance you’ll repeat previously unpleasant experiences.

See our community advice on how to make house sharing a success.

What is important to you?

Does your flatmate tend to leave the washing up until the weekend or leave the wash basin dirty? There is always something that will irritate you.

You cannot expect to find flatmates who are perfect

So this is the key point – there is always something! You cannot expect to find a flatmate who is perfect and will never do anything that irritates you. But you can reduce the odds by thinking about what is important to you and then considering this in the hunt for a home.

What makes a good flatmate for one person is completely different from one person to another. At Cohabitas we try to get some basic indicators for you but nothing can make up for a real conversation. An online conversation using our messaging platform is a good start, but as soon as you feel able then a face-to-face conversation is needed.

Then there are the Tips for sharing, which each housemate profile on Cohabitas contains. These are a great indicator of what is important to each person.

Get some flatshare advice

Last but not least, you can get advice from other sharers. One of the things we’ve come across recently which we really like is a great video by Annamarie from Sharing Housing. She has a great video explaining what to look out for when considering sharing, as well as a book and an online guide. We recommend viewing this ahead of reviewing your Cohabitas flatmate profile and editing it to reflect your sharing preferences.

So the key message is don’t expect to find a flatmate who is perfect, but do think about what you are looking for and be sure to look at and to ask other people about some of the little things that matter to you!

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