You found someone who seems normal. They have a job, they smiled during the tour, and they said they were "pretty clean." Great. Now ask these ten questions before you sign anything.
1. What Does Your Typical Weekday Look Like?
This single question reveals more about compatibility than anything else. You're looking for schedule overlap and potential friction points.
If they work from home and you leave at 7 AM, that might work great. If you both work from home in a one-bathroom apartment, that's a different conversation.
2. How Do You Feel About Cleanliness in Shared Spaces?
Notice the phrasing. Don't ask "are you clean?" because everyone says yes. Ask about shared spaces specifically.
Listen for details. "I wipe down the kitchen after cooking" tells you something very different from "I'm pretty relaxed about it."
3. What's Your Guest Policy?
This is where many roommate relationships fall apart. Some people want a revolving door of friends. Others want their home to be a quiet retreat.
Neither is wrong, but they're incompatible under the same roof. Ask about:
- How often they have people over
- Overnight guests and significant others
- Parties or gatherings
- Whether they'd want to host dinner parties
4. How Do You Handle Conflict?
The most underrated question on this list. Everyone has disagreements with their roommate eventually. What matters is how they deal with it.
Green flags: "I'd bring it up directly but calmly." Red flags: "I'm pretty easygoing, I just let things go" (they don't, they just don't communicate until they explode).
5. What's Your Budget and How Do You Want to Split Costs?
Get specific. Not just rent, but:
- Utilities (split evenly or by usage?)
- Shared supplies like toilet paper, dish soap, cleaning products
- Internet and streaming services
- Groceries (shared or separate?)
Money conversations are awkward. Have them now or have worse conversations later.
6. Are You a Morning Person or a Night Owl?
This affects everything: when the kitchen is busy, when the bathroom is occupied, noise levels in the evening, and whether someone's alarm at 5:30 AM will become your alarm too.
Perfect alignment isn't necessary, but knowing what you're signing up for prevents resentment.
7. Do You Have or Plan to Get Any Pets?
Even if the lease allows pets, you need to know. Allergies, noise, shared space cleanliness, and responsibility during travel all come into play.
Ask about current pets and future plans. "I'm thinking about getting a puppy" is information you need before committing.
8. How Long Are You Planning to Stay?
Mismatched timelines create problems. If you want stability for two years and they're planning to move in six months, someone's going to be apartment hunting again sooner than they'd like.
9. What's a Dealbreaker for You in a Living Situation?
This open-ended question often surfaces things you'd never think to ask about. Maybe they can't stand the smell of fish being cooked. Maybe they need absolute silence after 10 PM. Maybe they have a strict no-shoes-inside policy.
Whatever it is, you want to know before it becomes a fight.
10. Can I Contact Your Previous Roommate?
The reaction to this question is often more telling than the reference itself. Someone who immediately says "absolutely" has nothing to hide. Someone who gets uncomfortable might have a story they're not telling.
How to Use the Answers
Don't look for perfect answers. Look for honesty, self-awareness, and compatibility with your own habits.
The best roommate relationships aren't between identical people. They're between people who understand their differences and can communicate about them.
Tools like roommate compatibility scores can help you quantify this. If someone's answers to these questions align with a high compatibility score, you've got a strong foundation.