Newspapers are full of advertisements for accommodation to share. Choosing the wrong person with whom to share can change your life into a living hell. What are the things to look out for when choosing a housemate?

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Friend or housemate? Decide whether you want a friend or a housemate. Are you looking for someone you can chat to in the small hours or do you want to do the ships passing in the night thing? It creates a lot of problems if two people want different things.

Probation period. Finding someone you can live with is not easy. It may be an idea to agree on a probation period, say three months, after which either of you can call it a day if you want to.

Mealtime mayhem. Decide whether you are going to cook and eat together, or whether you are each going to do your own thing. Which food in the fridge belongs to both of you and what is strictly out of bounds? Deciding this beforehand can prevent much bickering and bad feeling later on.

Routine ructions. Living with someone whose routine is vastly different to yours could be disrupting. If you work nine-to-five and you housemate does the midnight shift behind the bar at an all-night club, you could run into problems. You could wake her up at 7a.m. and she could wake you up at 3 a.m.

Tidiness trouble. Check whether the potential housemate is a slob or a neatness freak. You need to find someone whose ideas of general household maintenance fits in vaguely with your own.

Houseguests or housepests. What is your feeling on having people to stay? The last thing you want when you are looking forward to a relaxing Christmas vacation, is a horde of your housemate's relatives descending. Decide beforehand what the policy is about house guests and family staying over.

Smoking or non-smoking? If you are vehemently anti-smoking, don't choose a housemate who is a pack-a-day smoker. If your house or flat is a smoke-free zone, make it clear from the start.

Here, kitty, kitty. What's your policy about pets? Do you have any, or does your potential housemate have three Maltese poodles? These are decisions that need to be made beforehand.

Social whirl or hermit? Do you like your home to be like a hermit's cell, or Victoria station? Differences on this matter have put an end to many a living-together arrangement. People do have their preferences. Find out whether yours coincides with this person's.

Drinking and drugging. Make it clear from the start how you feel about alcohol and drugs. If you like the odd glass of wine and your potential housemate is a fanatical teetotaller, you could be heading for rough seas.

I'm out of here. Agree on a notice period. One calendar month either way seems reasonable. No one wants to be out on the street suddenly or landed with double rent.

Rent ramifications. The greatest fights between housemates are usually over money. Agree when and how the rent will be paid. Post-dated cheques or a debit order is probably the most pain-free. – (Susan Erasmus)

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