Apartment Agreement

Have you ever watched the tv show, The Big Bang Theory? Do you know that Sheldon made Leonard sign “The Roommate Agreement?” Let’s look at some of the aspects of that contract:

·         If Sheldon becomes a zombie, Leonard cannot shoot him.

·         The Skynet Clause states the Leonard must help Sheldon destroy an Artificial Intelligence that Sheldon created that is taking over the earth.

·         Removal or addition of furniture must be approved by Sheldon

·         Sheldon must ask Leonard how he is once each day

·         The thermostat must always be set to 72 degrees

·         Roommates must give 12 hours notification if they want to have a guest

·         All ties will be broken by Sheldon

·         And many, many other items (seriously, this is a great show and you should watch it!)

Now with those delightful tid-bits in mind, what I’m about to say might sound ridiculous, but I suggested to my roommate that before we even moved into our apartment, we should come up with a roommate agreement. Now you may think I’m a crazy, tightly wound, control freak (like Sheldon), but the idea is a good one (and if you do a little google search, you’ll find it’s actually fairly common). And I think I know why, if you lay out reasonable expectations for a new roommate prior to actually living together, you are bound to avoid some disagreements and misunderstandings. Furthermore, it is not a unilateral decision, it is an open dialogue between two (or more) roommates, and usually a lack of communication causes failure of all types of relationships. If communication is open from the beginning, and expectations are understood, there will probably be far fewer problems in the future.

Here’s how creating the roommate agreement worked for us:

1.       I suggested we create a roommate agreement.

2.       She agreed.

3.       She emailed me a list of ideas for the roommate agreement.

4.       I looked over her list and got a little nervous about some of the things on it.

5.       I considered how I could change the things that bothered me, for example:

a.       She said: If one of us wants to have friends or family over, we have to ask the other roommate first.

b.      I didn’t like the idea of having to ask every time I wanted to have someone over so I countered with: We have “visiting hours” from 8AM – 10PM; if we will have someone over outside of those hours or overnight, we have to inform the other roommate.

6.       Then I added a few other things and sent the list back to her.

7.       She said she thought it looked good.

8.       Once we are both moved into the apartment, we will look it over again, do any final tweaking, print it out (possibly on pretty paper), and post it (probably on the fridge).

Things we are including in our roommate agreement:

·         How bills and rent are split

·         Visitors

·         Cleaning

·         “Open/Closed Door Policy: If the door is closed to their room, expect that the roommate is studying or needs privacy”

·         Be respectful- basically try not to disturb the other roommate if they are studying

·         Use of Roommate’s Things – basically don’t without asking

·         Groceries

·         Pets

·         Apartment temperature

·         Minimize electric and water use

·         Flexibility clause – it’s a “living document,” like the constitution!

·         Argument clause aka what to do in case of an argument

·         Keep the front door locked

·         Monthly check-ins (got this idea from another blog – Click here for the blog post where Lauren Conrad mentions this idea!

Admittedly, our Roommate Agreement is a little long (its 4 pages doubke spaced), and it’s still a work in progress, but I do think it’s a good idea. Hopefully, it will help keep me accountable with doing my part to keep the common areas of the apartment clean (I can be a bit disorganized). And hopefully, it will help to keep us happy and friendly with each other (we are friends after all). I think this is a good idea for anyone who is living together, whether in an apartment or a dorm. I’ll let you know how it goes!

I’m not sure what to say here,

Sharon