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Flatmate hunting - advice


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My current flat mate is going to be moving out at the end of next month, so I'll be in need of a new flatmate. I've asked about my circle of friends to see if they know any non-mentalists who might be interested, and I've also had a swatch on Gumtree.

Has anyone got some (good) advice on any other means of finding one. And I rather not have a student.

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Guest idol_wild
My current flat mate is going to be moving out at the end of next month, so I'll be in need of a new flatmate. I've asked about my circle of friends to see if they know any non-mentalists who might be interested, and I've also had a swatch on Gumtree.

Has anyone got some (good) advice on any other means of finding one. And I rather not have a student.

Quite simpy, ensure you "interview" every prospective housemate. Get them round to view the place and if they show an interest then tell them what you expect of them, what they can expect of you, and ask any personal questions you may deem suitable (ie. their profession, so that you know they'll be good for rent!).

Might also be an idea to ask for references if you want to be extra cautious. I think this is quite common practice.

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Guest Steven Dedalus

And whatever you do, don't move in with Phillip - he's a gabshite.

In all seriousness, though, if you're meeting people through the internet, and you interview them to see what they're like, make sure you're 100% satisfied with them. And little niggling doubts you have can fester and make things very difficult for you.

Something mildly annoying can become impossibly irritating very quickly.

My advice: move in wth someone you already know.

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It's true that living together can really make or break a friendship, but so far I think I've been lucky, and I've actually had more problems living with someone I didn't previously know. At least if you know the person you know what you can expect.

Of course on the other hand they might have been driven completly nuts by living with me, but no one's said anything yet :p

Definitely insist on meeting/interviewing people before making a decision. I advertised on citylets.co.uk and got driven nuts by west african oil workers who thought they could just e-mail me once to ask who to make the deposit cheque out to.

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You could try Flatshare - House Share & Rooms to rent 190,000 Flatshare ads in the UK or SPARE ROOM for flatshare, house share, flat share & rooms for rent There is a mixture of students and non-students on both but they usually give more details about the type of flatshare they are looking for than gumtree. I found it saved me a lot of time because I emailed a lot of people through gumtree only to find they were totally unsuitable because they hadn't given detailed descriptions of what they needed (ie smoking allowed).

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I've had two flatmates off Gumtree. The first was a Nigerian prostitute who was a total moron, smoked all my fags and spoke ignorant shite exclusively. Had parties till about 5am 3-4 nights a week with banging music, and absolutely no regard for me who was sleeping upstairs. Had possibly the worst attitude of any person I've ever met, and I caught her wanking off an old man once when I came home from work early.

My second Gumtree flatmate, (my current flatmate) is a gem, we get on great guns, but I had about 20 replies to my ad from total weirdos before I met someone decent. She also had been targeted by weirdos, including one guy who offered her a cheap room, the only drawback being that it was a one bedroom flat and he wanted them to share the bed.

Be very wary of people who use Gumtree would be my advice. Don't accept anyone who is "between jobs" as they'll be up all night making a racket and keeping you awake, and they won't pay their way. And they may also secretly be a prostitute. Interview people in a neutral location, ie a coffee shop then if they're a freak they don't know where you live!

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Guest Jake Wifebeater
I always avoid living with strangers... if you're anything like me (have a variety of OCDs and really specific obsessions connected with cleaning) strangers aren't an option

Pretty similar to me, I deliberately chose a one-bedroom flat so there would be no option of sharing with a flatmate. It's good fun living with a woman at times, so that's never been a problem.

But it's my fucking gaff, so things get done my fucking way! If I had the room to share with a flatmate, I'd end up murdering the bastard for something like putting cups in the sink as opposed to beside it, until washing-up time. Or leaving dirty plates on the table. Or not emptying the ashtrays regularly. Or leaving the telly on standby. Or pretty much anything that portrays them as an infantile fucking slob who leaves everything at their arse. Cunt.

:up:

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Pretty similar to me, I deliberately chose a one-bedroom flat so there would be no option of sharing with a flatmate. It's good fun living with a woman at times, so that's never been a problem.

But it's my fucking gaff, so things get done my fucking way! If I had the room to share with a flatmate, I'd end up murdering the bastard for something like putting cups in the sink as opposed to beside it, until washing-up time. Or leaving dirty plates on the table. Or not emptying the ashtrays regularly. Or leaving the telly on standby. Or pretty much anything that portrays them as an infantile fucking slob who leaves everything at their arse. Cunt.

:up:

Can I be your flatmate Jake?:up:

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Pretty similar to me, I deliberately chose a one-bedroom flat so there would be no option of sharing with a flatmate. It's good fun living with a woman at times, so that's never been a problem.

But it's my fucking gaff, so things get done my fucking way! If I had the room to share with a flatmate, I'd end up murdering the bastard for something like putting cups in the sink as opposed to beside it, until washing-up time. Or leaving dirty plates on the table. Or not emptying the ashtrays regularly. Or leaving the telly on standby. Or pretty much anything that portrays them as an infantile fucking slob who leaves everything at their arse. Cunt.

:up:

Dude, you sound like you'd be a shit flatmate!

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Guest Jake Wifebeater
Haha! I'm maybe not quite as severe but certain drive me up the wall. I have a thing that I can't stand toothpaste being left out - it's so manky - and I'm really OTT about specific things in the bathroom (probably just as well I don't share mine with anyone and didn't share mine with anyone in my last flat either). I used to scream at old flatmates of mine that in a year and a half never cleaned the bathroom once - despite being asked. It was so fucking disgusting. I used to comb up chunks of hair from the bathroom carpet and I'd find my scissors through there covered in hair too :puke:

There's nothing wrong with being OCD about stuff like this, it's an eye-opener as to how annoying and/or revolting people really are. It doesn't matter how good a friend they are, there's little things they do which drive me fucking batshit. Like leaving the bottom centimetre in the coffee cup undrunk (NotBald, you fuckhead), or not closing the kitchen door in the winter after getting more booze from the fridge (Scorge, you shitehawk), or using half the fucking roll of shithouse paper in ONE visit to the shithouse (women, you bitches).

Living alone is the only way to remain non-murderous. Sartre may have been a pretentious twat, but he was spot on when he said that "Hell is other people". So no, I'm not looking for a flatmate. Ever.

:up:

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Why dont you kill someone then you will get free food and accomodation for a large percentage of your life:up:

What a great idea... :rolleyes:

Anyway, thanks for all the (good) advice. From peoples' experiances, I would defiantely not settle for the first person I meet (unless it's Kate Nash) to minimise the potential for mental.

I would live alone, but it is far too expensive.

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Your overuse of exclamation marks suggest you may in fact actually be a mentalist :p

Like everyone said, best bet is to interview people, check references and don't just settle for someone you think you can bare. You need to be 100% certain you can live with this person. Also, try checking websites of like the hospital and stuff. There is quite often advertisements of people needing somewhere to stay on there.

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I have gotten numerous emails featuring terrible grammar, so all those folk are immediately discounted.

funniest thing I've read all year.

put any girls who apply to the top of the list and me about 4th. The all guy flat is a fooking nightmare. I haven't seen a clean dish I didn't wash myself since September.

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