Moving in with your best friend

There are several reasons why moving in with your best friend may seem like a good idea. Whether it’s out of financial necessity or you are just seeking a new adventure with your bestie, it can be a rewarding experience on so many levels. When the time comes to pick a roommate, you may automatically assume that your best friend will be a perfect fit for that role. After all, what could possibly go wrong when living with your favorite person who happens to be your loyal friend for years.

As we all know, renting an apartment combined with monthly utility bills can be a financial nightmare. No wonder why so many people at any stage of life find themselves moving in with a roommate. That is especially true for millennials who consider the prospect of moving out of their parents’ house a significant breakthrough.

One thing is for sure – once you get your apartment, you’ll have the liberty to make your own choices and also the responsibility to provide for your personal needs. Starting a new life chapter on your own is an important decision that should be planned carefully. Moving in with your best friend can be an unusual first step to independent living. It can also put your friendship to the test. As it turns out, there are many risks involved in this decision. However, if you are ready to take your friendship to the next level, you may want to learn how to do it properly.

Do friends make good roommates?

Whether you’ll be better off moving in with your best friend or with a complete stranger is hard to say. The outcome depends on many factors. As exciting as it seems, choosing a person to share a place with proves to be rather challenging. Living with the best friend may seem like a very appealing idea, especially if you are moving out of your parents’ home for the first time. Unfortunately, sometimes this experience doesn’t turn out as positive as we expect it to be.

Eventually, you may find out that best friends don’t necessarily make good roommates, so think carefully before embarking on this adventure. Sharing a living space with someone is not all roses. Be it your best friend, a romantic partner, or a complete stranger, he or she can quickly turn into your least favorite person. Unless you take this decision seriously, moving in with your best friend may be detrimental to your well-being and your friendship.

Hopefully, the following suggestions will help you create a healthy, non-confrontational living environment and maintain a positive relationship with your roommate. Diving into a roommate situation with your best friend should be a well-informed decision. Otherwise, it can weigh down your friendship and ruin your relationship permanently.

Will my best friend be a good roommate?

Without a doubt, moving in with your best friend can be fun. It’s an important step forward that can either make your friendship even stronger or ruin it permanently.

Here are some important considerations to keep in mind when taking this huge leap into the unknown. Here are some guidelines that may help you figure out whether you and your best friend match as roommates.

First and foremost, think about your best friend’s characteristics and ask yourself:

• Is he/she a responsible and hardworking person?
• Can he/she afford the new apartment?
• Will he/she pay the rent and utilities regularly?
• Can you talk openly about any issue that may arise?
• Is your friend willing to compromise?
• Are your lifestyles, interests, and preferences compatible?
• Is your friend tolerant/does he get upset quickly?

If you’ve always had the privilege of having your room and personal space, chances are you are not fully aware of what it means to share it with another person. Although you two are getting along entirely, cohabitation may present you with some unexpected challenges. The truth is that your preferences, interests, and characters may clash at some point and generate tension. The key to maintaining good roommate relations is definitely open communication. So, before signing a lease with your best friend, try to evaluate if the two of you will make good roommates.

Discuss your different lifestyles

The fact that you two have an excellent relationship doesn’t mean that you have the same preferences and expectations about your living arrangement. The assumption that there won’t be any major problems since you get along perfectly happens to be wrong.
Talk about your daily routine and your expectations to avoid possible misunderstandings. Figure out a strategy that works for both of you, and that will allow you to be good roommates and remain best friends.

Make sure you agree on some basics like paying rent, bills, household maintenance, some ground household rules. Discuss when you go to bed and get up, go to work/school, studying time, social priorities, when you can invite friends, and have overnight guests… If your living styles are not compatible, make sure you try to reach a compromise and make the whole situation work.

Set clear expectations after moving in with your best friend

Once you have decided that you want to move in together, start planning and arranging your new home, but don’t expect that you will do everything together all the time. Everyone needs some time apart. As much as you love spending time together, you should respect each other’s privacy.

Establish some ground rules

What’s acceptable for you, your roommate may find inappropriate or unbearable. If keeping your home clean is your everyday task and your roommate is doing it occasionally, then you two have an issue to talk about. Just be considerate and try not to hurt each other’s feelings. Address suggestions properly, explain how you feel about the problem and try to find the solution together. If something bothers you, don’t hesitate to bring it up. Finding a balance between tolerance and thoughtfulness is the key to a successful cohabitation.

Engage in moving activities

When moving in with your best friend, both of you should make sure to create a healthy and welcoming living environment. Having discussed finances, you will be able to plan the moving day and other moving-associated activities. It goes without saying that a clutter-free home is a good place for a fresh start. So, pare down your belongings as you don’t want to accumulate duplicate items around your new apartment. As long as you are respectful of each other’s personal property, you can share things.

Also, consider renting short-term storage NYC if you have trouble letting go of your personal belongings. Organizing a move is stressful enough, so you may want to make the transition easier by getting professional moving services Brooklyn. Just make sure you are on the same page when it comes to setting a moving budget and organizing logistics of the move.

Set healthy boundaries

Respect your roommate’s private space, belongings, and habits. Roommates usually share most of the things, but try not to be too invasive to avoid possible conflicts. There are times when you are not in the mood for socializing, when you need to be by yourself and your roommate should understand and respect that.

Bad roommate situations and conflicts can result in disrupted friendship, so make sure you two talk to each other about possible issues. Your communication will evolve, so you need to be honest with each other. Suppressing your feelings may cause additional arguments or conflicts.

Be prepared to discover things that you didn’t know about your best friend

If you two have some unresolved issues from the past, they are likely to come up along with some other home-related problems and the tension between you will grow. Also, don’t expect that everything will stay the same. You will evolve and change, and so will your friendships. Also, accept that best friends can make terrible roommates. Also, the fact that you two have similar interests and preferences doesn’t mean that you will live in harmony. If a living situation becomes too stressful, you don’t want to lose your friend because you two cannot seem to make it work.