Krista Diamond February 23, AM. Despite its popularity, Craigslist aka the land of casual encounters and missed connections has a sketchy reputation at best. And yet it is. Take a moment to write down the pros and cons of different roommate candidates and then do a little sleuthing. Follow Storagefront. Write the Perfect Ad If you work in marketing or have at least seen a few episodes of Mad Men, you already know how important it is to understand your audience when creating an ad.
Follow this advice when looking for a roommate on Craigslist. I would love a social roommate who gets along with my two dogs and enjoys nature and cooking the occasional meal together. Be sure to also include photos of the apartment, along with details about the neighborhood. Be Safe Play by the rules of Tinder and talk to potential roommates online before meeting in person. Craigslist makes this easy by using a 2-way email relay.
This means that when someone responds to your ad, they will see an anonymous email address instead of your actual email address. This anonymous email address will forward emails to your personal email address. Start with a meet and greet.
Because psychopaths do occasionally lurk on the internet, meet in a public place like a coffee shop or bar. Keep it casual; the goal of this is to see if your personalities are a good fit. Have an idea of what questions you want to ask here are five great ones and give them time to ask you questions too. One clever way to size up your potential roommate fast is to offer to meet at their current residence. Give them a tour of the apartment and provide all the details. Be up front about what the rent does and does not include.
Discuss the total rent, including shared bills. Talk hard rules, like whether or not smoking and pets are allowed, and soft rules, like cleaning and your guest policy. Make your expectations clear. Are they a member of not one but five different Nickelback fan groups on Facebook? Consider that bullet dodged. If you want to be really comprehensive, you can do a background check and ask for references as well.
