30 Questions to Ask a Potential Roommate
By the Matezer team · Updated
You can change an apartment's furniture, but not the person on the other side of the wall. A single honest conversation before you sign tells you most of what you need to know. Here are thirty questions, grouped by topic, to guide it.
How to use this list
You do not need all thirty. Pick the ones that matter most to you, answer them yourself first, and treat the conversation as an exchange rather than an interview. Pay attention to how someone answers as much as to what they say: a person who is open about their habits is usually easy to live with.
Money
Most roommate conflicts that end a lease start here, so ask these first.
- What is your budget for rent, and is there any flexibility?
- How do you want to split utilities and internet?
- Is your income steady, and could you cover your share for a couple of months if it stopped?
- Are you comfortable being on the lease, and can you provide what a landlord asks for?
- How do you feel about shared purchases like cleaning supplies or furniture?
Schedule and daily rhythm
Two good people on opposite schedules can make each other miserable in a small apartment.
- What time do you usually wake up and go to bed?
- Do you work or study from home, and where in the apartment?
- How often are you away for work, weekends or holidays?
- When do you shower: morning or night?
- How do you feel about noise late at night or early in the morning?
Cleaning and shared spaces
Ask for specifics. Everyone says they are clean.
- How often do you clean the kitchen and the bathroom?
- How long is it fine for dishes to sit in the sink?
- Would you rather have a cleaning schedule or clean as you go?
- How do you feel about sharing food, cookware and fridge space?
- What temperature do you keep the apartment at, summer and winter?
Guests and social life
Neither answer is wrong. A mismatch is.
- How often do you have friends over?
- Do you have a partner, and how often would they stay?
- How much notice do you want before overnight guests?
- Do you want to spend time together, or mostly keep to yourselves?
- How do you feel about parties or gatherings at home?
Habits and deal breakers
Better to hear it now than to discover it in month two.
- Do you smoke or vape, and where?
- Do you have pets, or plan to get one? Any allergies?
- How do you feel about alcohol or cannabis at home?
- Is there anything a past roommate did that you could not live with?
- Is there anything about how you live that I should know?
The lease and the long term
Plans change. Agree now on what happens when they do.
- How long do you plan to stay?
- What happens if one of us needs to move out early?
- Who finds the replacement, and does the other person get a say?
- How should we handle a disagreement when one comes up?
- Can you share a reference from a past roommate or landlord?
After the conversation
If the answers fit, write the important ones down. A short roommate agreement turns a good conversation into something you can both refer back to. Our roommate agreement checklist covers what to include.
On Matezer, much of this is already on each profile: daily rhythm, tidiness, guests, noise and pets. You can see how someone lives before you start the conversation, and you only talk to people who also chose you. See how roommate matching works.