Choosing the wrong person with whom to share a home or flat can change your life into a living hell. Is there a way in which you can reduce the risk of housemate hassles?

Take action:
Check whether the potential housemate is a slob or a neatness freak – find someone whose ideas of general household maintenance are vaguely the same as yours; if you're anti-smoking, don’t choose a housemate who is a pack-a-day smoker; find out if he/she has a partner and if the partner is planning to sleep over; have a probation period of about three months, after which either of you can call it quits; decide whether you're going to cook and eat together or whether each of you will be

Advertisement

doing your own thing; make it clear from the start how you feel about alcohol and drugs; agree on a notice period – one calendar month is usually regarded as reasonable; agree on when and how the rent will be paid.

Read more: Dealing with difficult neighbours

Special focus for the day: Prevent a first-date fiasco
 

Print this article

Rate this article Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent

JOBS

Senior Secretary Gauteng - North/Sandton Infrastructure Resource Gauteng - Johannesburg Management Accountant R450,000-500,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial Manager R350,000-400,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial and Project Accountant R300,000-360,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg Financial Accountant R380,000-420,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - Johannesburg SSIS Business Intelligence Specialists (SSIS; SSAS) R350,000-500,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - North/Sandton Financial Accountant R350,000-450,000 Per Annum Cost To Company Gauteng - South Find more jobs Register your CV Post a job