Live in a large American city, I need to find a roommate as my current one is moving out and I want to move someone else in, else I have to move out myself and eat a shitload of rent and etc. What besides Craigslist is a good service for finding roommates on the quick?
How to find roommates? (USA)
I had an apartment with a friend, and he moved out and found a replacement on craigslist to cover his portion of the lease. She was perfectly fine, friendly, polite, etc. No problems. She left, I kept the place, and found another craigslist roomate. He is also nice, polite, and I have no problems with him.
I put up several different ads. Some had pictures, some did not. Some gave very detailed, well-written descriptions of the place, and some were short and written colloquially. I posted them at different times of day, and found that your ad only gets responses recently after it's published so it's worth it to keep publishing several different ones then renew them after a week. I started advertising my place more than 1 month before I needed a new roommate and did not sign papers until about 5 days before the date my old rommate was moving out.
Finding people on craigslist is a bit of a grind. About half of the people who email you interested never set up a time to see it, about half of the people who set up a time to see it flake. I think I showed my place to about 7 people in total, and the only one actually interested in taking it was my current roommate.
Of the 7, 3 were people I vibed with. They walked in the door and instantly we could talk and get along well. The others were all in one way or another awkward or not friendly, or something. I could just feel from how they were acting they wouldn't take it. Perhaps the place wasn't what they were hoping for, or perhaps our personalities didn't immediately click. Either way it worked out for the best.
Many people on Craigslist will want to haggle your price down. Both of my good roommates actually were moving out of more expensive places so they could save some money. It's definitely better to find people who have money to spare and are looking at your pad as a thrifty option to save up some cash and not pay a realtor's fee, as opposed to people who are tight on cash and want you to lower the rent.
I put up several different ads. Some had pictures, some did not. Some gave very detailed, well-written descriptions of the place, and some were short and written colloquially. I posted them at different times of day, and found that your ad only gets responses recently after it's published so it's worth it to keep publishing several different ones then renew them after a week. I started advertising my place more than 1 month before I needed a new roommate and did not sign papers until about 5 days before the date my old rommate was moving out.
Finding people on craigslist is a bit of a grind. About half of the people who email you interested never set up a time to see it, about half of the people who set up a time to see it flake. I think I showed my place to about 7 people in total, and the only one actually interested in taking it was my current roommate.
Of the 7, 3 were people I vibed with. They walked in the door and instantly we could talk and get along well. The others were all in one way or another awkward or not friendly, or something. I could just feel from how they were acting they wouldn't take it. Perhaps the place wasn't what they were hoping for, or perhaps our personalities didn't immediately click. Either way it worked out for the best.
Many people on Craigslist will want to haggle your price down. Both of my good roommates actually were moving out of more expensive places so they could save some money. It's definitely better to find people who have money to spare and are looking at your pad as a thrifty option to save up some cash and not pay a realtor's fee, as opposed to people who are tight on cash and want you to lower the rent.
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