Comments on 8 people renting a house

Parents Forum
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<p>It does seem to work best when each student can sign lease and be held responsible for their share of rent. My son shared with just 2 other boys for 3 years and each signed lease--landlord could not put anyone else in if one moved out --that one would be responsible until end of lease.</p>

<p>originaloog has great ideas for planning, but sometimes best laid plans....
Once when visiting son, their kitchen was stacked with smelly garbage bags. Came to find out that one boy didn't do his "week" of garbage detail, so other 2 refused to take out on theirs in protest. Went on for a month until first boy finally carried out all the garbage.</p>

<p>My D. and last year's roommate had agreement to wash their own dirty dishes. Roommate wouldn't wash hers and of course, eventually there were no clean pans or dishes for d. to use. They had some huge fights about that. But it is all a learning experience. But 8 in one house! Hard to imagine that all would be responsible and pull their share--but stranger things have happened;).</p>

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<p>Well, my advice is be careful. My S has lived in an apartment with 6 other guys since soph. year. They are all on the lease, but the landlord only wants one check. My S volunteered (boy does he regret this now) to deal with the rent, and another roommate deals with the utilities. It's not an easy situation to have to get the rent from the others every month. Kids tend to be last minute kind of doers and my S (and therefore we) sometimes end up fronting the rent...and its not inexpensive given the location (Chicago) and the size of the place. There has also been the yearlyissue of sublettors for the summer and during study abroad periods. Theoretically each roommate has been responsible for finding a sublettor for his room, but that causes its own sort of stress when its June and the room is not filled. Generally speaking the guys have gotten along pretty well, and they seem to be able to live with each others idea of cleanliness. I however cooked in the kitchen last spring and spent 2 hours cleaning it before I would even start to cook! What he has learned over the past 3 years is that he never again wants more than 1 or maybe 2 roommates!</p>

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<p>I live in a house with my boyfriend, a female friend, and a male friend. We knew each other well before choosing the house, and knew that we could stand each other's living habits and cleanliness. I'm lucky that the other guy I live with takes care of all our rent and bills, and just tells me a total amount to pay each month--guess he has extra cash to take care of everything. I am saving over $100 a month from the dorms, have a place to stay summer and breaks if I want, a place to cook food (none of the dorms had that), garage, backyard, etc. There is even a community center our landlord pays for, and he also pays for getting weeds pulled when some people come by and "check on" the house every 2 weeks.</p>

<p>We're all on the lease--I think that's important. Also letting roommates know that if they move out, they need to find someone or else keep paying rent.</p>

<p>We all buy our own food, which can be a problem sometimes as there is a lot in the house. But, other times we'll pitch in and someone will cook.</p>

<p>I think to the OP that was going to have a son living with 7 others, major issues not posted could be fridge/pantry space, laundry (8 people sharing one set could be difficult), noise, and cleaning.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

24

<p>I think it is a bad idea. 4 is the MAX. Chance of major problems is nearly 100%. If you want to live with a bunch of people join a frat or a co-op. At least they have rules.</p>

25

<p>I know in Ithaca the landlords start leasing now for next fall. My son has been looking into housing for next year. He was pretty set on a specific apartment building -- but now i am hearing that that is not the plan. I suppose if he doesn't get his off-campus housing set soon that he will be able to get on-campus housing. He seems to be aware and up to date on this ... despite his rep of being clueless and out to lunch!</p>

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<p>I would suggest in most cases that ALL tenants be on the lease! I have seen many cases where only some are on the lease and this leaves the leasor with all the obligation and other students come & go. I also like the units that require the parents on the lease, that means even if their kid flakes, they parents will likley come through with rent to protect their credit.</p>

<p>My D is in a house with 18 girls, each room is a separate lease and that is helpful, they do have house meetings and most of them are in the same sorority so there is a good reason for long-term cooperation. My D is saving a couple of thousand over the dorm over the year, including food & utilities!</p>

<p>Mainly, I would say BE CAREFUL.....read the roommate horror stories...if you think there is a serious issue, come Oct/Nov, go with your gut & do a switch. My other DD tried to work out a miserable situation and we ended up being stuck for rent for time when she was not there, as it was too late to get a replacement, whereas if she'd given up sooner, we could have found one for the 2nd half of the year more easily!</p>

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<p>I agree with barrons that 4 people should be the max. My S lived with only 2 others in a university-managed off campus housing with only 3 bedrooms, shared bath and shared kitchen; no common living areas. From what I saw during moveout, the bathroom and kitchen did not look like it's been clean for months. As a matter of fact,the person who used the kitchen often left it so dirty that others didn't even want to set foot in it. My S ate all his meals out, mainly from food carts around campus.
I asked him why they didn't set up a cleaning schedule for the bathroom and he said they did, but no one adhered to it so they gave up. So they just cleaned when they themselves couldn't stand it.
I can't imagine managing 8 people in a house.</p>

28

<p>My son lives with 7 other guys in a house, each with their own room. He absolutely loves it - there's always someone around to socialize with. Having more roommates makes it easier. He's also very easy going and tolerant, so there's been no problems.</p>

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<p>Barrons, I do not know how you came to your 4 max criterion but our son achieved a 4.0 gpa in his first year in that 11 student house at Rensselaer which is not known for grade inflation. Hardly a frat atmosphere in his house!!!</p>

<p>In fact it really depends on the students living in the apartment, house, unit. I know that our son is participating in a group term project this semester which includes several in his "house" and they have regualrly put in 10 hour weekend days in group sessions so far, teaching themselves a totally new programming language(Ruby on Rails) in the process. Frat atmosphere???? Hardly!</p>

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<p>Because mostly nerds go there?? We are talking a real university with hot girls and beer and everything. Not some techy semi-monastery.</p>

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<p>LOL... 'techy semi-monastery' that's great</p>

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<p>Barrons, my observations on the semi-monastery. There are usually a few coeds wandering about, I observed a jug of Almaden on top of the fridge and the second floor living room is designated as "The Party Room". It seems that the "monks" know how to have a little fun! ;-)</p>

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<p>
[quote]
There are usually a few coeds wandering about

[/quote]
</p>

<p>With or without clothing? ;)</p>

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<p>There are so many variables when renting a house with a large group of college students. No doubt it sounds like a fantastic idea to the average freshman. A lot will hinge on the personalities and habits of the others. A house rented by 8 sophomore guys is likely (though not guaranteed) to be loud and messy, and dirty. I was the only woman in two separate rental houses while in college and afterwards. Would not do it again! Definitely agree with the comments about mixed-gender housing above. The colleges themselves agree; this year my sophomore son's coed hall ended up with very few women due to an unusual room draw. During the summer, the school tried to get students to switch to attain a better gender balance on the hall (for lifestye reasons and also to maintain single-gender bathrooms on the hall).</p>

<p>There are few times in life when one can live in a dorm, eat at one's convenience in a cafeteria on a meal plan, and be freed of the household responsibilities that come with living in a group situation or in a house. I plan to encourage my kids to live in the dorm for as long as possible. I realize that on certain campuses, that is not an option.</p>

<p>Kids contemplating renting a house with several others need to consider their own tolerance for disorder and noise and privacy and distraction. A flexible personality might be more likely to be drawn into a group "hanging out" dynamic at the expense of his own academics...for them, a single or double dorm room might be more manageable. Really depends on the kid.</p>

<p>Security is a concern in an off-campus home rented by a large group. There's lots of coming and going, lots of friends around, and regardless of whether the front door is always locked, one's bedroom or personal space might need a separate lock on the door. </p>

<p>Many good comments have been posted. My $.02: adequate wiring for all of those chargers and electronics... and a good understanding of the type and extent of entertaining and partying that will be tolerated or encouraged by the group. Also, establishing minimum standards for dust, toilet cleaning, and the temperature at which the house will be kept in the winter.</p>

<p>I have turned into such a middle-aged finicky germophobic mom. Back in the day, I didn't care about any of this!</p>

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<p>speckledegg, I do not quite understand your feeling that there would be more noise, disorder and disruption living in an apartment vs living in a dorm. First there are numbers to consider. There may be more than 100 students living in a dorm vs 4-8 living in a typical student apartment. Second, in a dorm students have no choice on who will be living there or on their floor. In an apartment, students have a choice of who their mates will be and one can assume that they will be friends with similar lifestyles. It is doubtful that a rowdy hockey player will be in an apartment with three serious engineering students. Finally about the drop in. Do you really believe that more students are likely to drop into an apartment 3 blocks from campus vs a dormatory located a hundred feet across the quad? For serious students, apartment living is much more quiet and amenable to study, even more so in most apartments were everyone has a private bedroom.</p>

<p>Oh, and Marian, with!</p>

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<p>originaloog, I suppose that I'm assuming most kids will choose to live with their friends, on the basis of social compatibility, with less consideration given to other factors such as who is a nightowl or who studies a lot or who can be counted on to clean the bathroom when it's their turn. </p>

<p>No doubt there are groups of students who prethink the situation and seek optimal academic and lifestyle conditions in their group rental. I'm sure that some do not - including me when I was 19 and 23 - and the house comes together based on finding a loosely connected group of interested people.</p>

<p>And granted, dorm life is very noisy and distracting. But in a single, you have your own space. In a double, the environment/standards of a dorm room is negotiated between just two roommates. I consider sharing a house or apartment with 4, 6, or 8 people to be very different than having one roommate. The dynamic between 8 people, with friends and boyfriends/girlfriends, sharing common space is more complicated than having just two people sharing a room in a dorm wing. Of course, relationships with the other 25 people on the hall are a factor and I hadn't thought that through.</p>

<p>Interesting how we look at this. I was visualizing a rundown house in a busy neighborhood of other student rentals, and you were visualizing a quiet apartment.</p>

<p>In college I shared a house with four guys and two were engineering majors. I did observe them studying, but there was ample partying and dropping in and out. Day or night, Id never know what I'd find when I arrived home.</p>

<p>And, full disclosure, I lived in a dorm for a week this summer while taking a course and FULLY enjoyed not having the responsibility of food shopping and cooking and housekeeping! So yes, I'm sure my view is skewed... The idea of immersing oneself in an area of interest and keeping one's own personal, flexible, carpool-free schedule, living in a room with no grocery shopping or household chores or upkeep, getting a tray of cooked food when you're hungry, just seems appealing right now!</p>