Should I Move In With Strangers?

You’ve probably heard that moving in with friends isn’t a great idea, but what about moving in with strangers? Before you decide to move in with some randos off Flatmate Finder, here’s what you should have a think about:

What’s good about moving in with strangers?

Moving in with strangers is way lower-stakes - you don’t have to worry about ruining a friendship because you’re not really mates to begin with. It also changes the expectations a little. When you’re living with mates, you can sometimes tend to get a bit sloppy with getting your chores done because you know that they’ll forgive you (at least to your face!). With strangers, you can set the expectations and build that trust over time. Living with strangers definitely meant we kept our home cleaner.

Plus, you can end up meeting people that you never would have met otherwise. I don’t know about you guys, but I found that my high school friends and uni friends mostly came from the same areas and social circles I had when I was growing up, and we’d all had similar lives and experiences. When I moved in with strangers, I got to meet some really interesting people with totally different lives and perspectives. We got to introduce each other to our respective friend groups, and made a few new friends too. If you’re craving something a little different to the same-old, same-old, moving in with strangers can be a great call.

Also if you’re not totally sold on moving in with people completely outside of your circles, you can try and move in with friends of friends. Chances are if your mates vouch for them, you’ll be able to get along too, but there isn’t as much pressure to get along all of the time.

What’s bad about moving in with strangers?

The toughest part about moving in with someone you don’t know is that you can’t always tell how they’re going to behave once you’ve moved in.

Everyone who’s browsed their local flatmate finder Facebook group has seen that generic post where they say ‘we’re not a party house, but we love a cheeky glass of wine together on a Friday night!’. I can tell you right now that everyone has a different idea about what ‘not being a party house’ means. For some it means an 11pm curfew, and for others it just means that they’ll turn the music down a little bit at 3am.

Some people are just plain difficult to live with, and as soon as you move in you’ll find yourself waiting for the earliest opportunity to get the hell out of there. Not feeling like you can be comfortable in your own home is a pretty awful feeling, and I know plenty of people who started procrastinating going home after work or uni so they wouldn’t have to deal with a nasty housemate.

How should you approach moving in with strangers?

When you’re meeting them at their place (if you’re moving into an existing home), don’t be afraid to ask heaps of questions about how they run the house.

How many parties do they reckon they have a year? Are they early risers or night owls? Do they have partners who are going to be over all the time? It might seem like a bit much, but you’re way better off finding everything out before you sign up for a lease contract and go through the expensive process of moving in.

So should I move in with strangers?

If you’re excited by the idea of meeting new people and making new friends, moving in with strangers can be a really awesome experience. While there will be a couple of speed bumps along the way, you can rest easy knowing your old friendships will stay intact.