<p>What methods have you seen work in choosing who gets the bedroom perceived to be best, maybe lighting, size, ensuite bathroom, etc.</p>
<p>Once they've chosen is there any adjustment made? Rent differential? Other ways to make up the disparity? </p>
<p>If the roommates are continuing to a second or third year lease, should the prior years count in the decision? Would the one who got the lesser room the 1st time get the best room the second time? What if there were an adjustment the first times but there is not a similar possibility the second time?</p>
<p>In our case DD got one girl did the shopping & search so the other girl took the smaller room and asked for the assigned parking space to make up the difference, but she, too, wanted the better room. This year there is no size differential in the rooms & parking for both, but there is still one room they both like better. Should the girl who got the better room last year automatically choose second this year? Or did she earn the better room through her efforts and the roommate was made equal by getting the parking space.</p>
<p>I think I would go with it was equal last year and start fresh this year. How about draw straws or flip for it? I would also try to emphasize how nice is it is not to find a new roommate and all the things they agree on. Then if my daughter got the "lesser " room I would help her find something to make it better- new lamps, more storage whatever. If they lived together last year and want to live together again-then they are lucky and use to working things out.</p>
<p>I think prior years should count in the decision. Absent the parking place, the girl who got the better room first year gets the slightly less desirable one second year. The parking spot makes a big difference. Did the first girl have a car and have to park elsewhere? Did she expect her roomie to drive her around if she didn’t have a car (or even if she did)? Does either room have its own bathroom–that adds hugely to being “better.” If it is a close call with all the above variables, I’d say flip for it. If not a close call, then whoever had the least favorable deal last year gets first pick.<br>
When my grad school roommate and I had to pick which of us got the bigger and better bedroom, we agreed that it was worth a monthly premium of $50, which she was willing to pay and I was not. Worked fine that way.</p>
<p>We used the he who found it gets 1st choice rule. Never spent that much time in the room anyway. Usually at least one roomie left midterm for many reasons usually related to a female so there was some switching if they had the better room.</p>
<p>Similar to Barron’s situation above. The rooms in my D’s apt are very similar, but one does have a little bit more floor space and a little bit more closet space. She found the apartment, she put down the deposit, she moved in first and so did more of that “initial purchases” investment (broom, trash can, kitchen supplies, cleaning supplies, etc), and arranged for utilities. She chose the slightly bigger room.</p>
<p>In Somemom’s case, I think the room/parking spot exchange from last year leaves them equal for this year. So… flip a coin?</p>
<p>DD had the smaller budget and took the smallest room, paying less. The one who found it, did all the paperwork and had the utilities in her name had the master with walk in closet and bathroom. However, she stored all the gowns in her big closet and when they had sublettors in the summer, stored items in her closet, too. I never got involved, they solved it themselves.</p>
<p>Often roommates would agree to switch half way through the year and then the person with the “worse” room generally decides it’s not worth the trouble. If there’s a difference in size you can pro-rate the rent. Otherwise I’d draw straws.</p>
<p>D1 roomed with same person for 3 years. The usually agreed on who would get which room, but in one year when they couldn’t, they flipped for it. </p>
<p>This year D1 is renting an apartment with a friend from high school in NYC. Both of them have a nice job with good salary, and the rent is a lot more substantial. There is one bedroom which is clearly bigger and nicer. The rent was $200 more than their original budget. D1 offered to pay for the difference to get the bigger room.</p>
<p>In OP daughter’s situation, I think previous year was a wash (girl who found the apartment got the bigger room and the other girl got the parking space). If those girls couldn’t come to an agreement this year, then they should just flip for the nicer room.</p>
<p>My roommates and I are splitting rent by room size (including closets). Thankfully based on this there were no disputes on who got what room. I think that if there is a significant size difference that this is the best way to do it. It’s not really fair to make someone in a small room pay the same rent as someone in the master bedroom.</p>
<p>I’d sooner take the inferior room for all four years of school without complaint than ever deal with switching midyear, or at all. After spending time and money figuring out furniture and decorations for a particular room it would be an unfathomable PITA to figure out how to make a new room work, if one room was so drastically inferior that it would be worth that I’d question whether or not that was the right apartment at all. But that’s just me. :P</p>
<p>All really good points, so much of it is personal preference…what is a better room, what is fair, is it worth switching mid-year. I have passed on all the comments to DD and she is calling her roommate tonight. </p>
<p>I told her to think of it as the old ‘half a cookie’ issue, one kid breaks the cookie in half, the other chooses first. In this case she needs to suggest an offer which would be livable no matter which room she gets.</p>
<p>I have never worried about it and the roommates work it out I guess. My D is going to be the first one in this year so is planning on picking her space, but the rooms are equal in size so I don’t think it matters much. My S who is out of college rooms with 2 people in an apt. where one room is the master- much larger and it has it own bathroom. That person pays more and the other two who share a bath pay equally.</p>
<p>My kids have used the web site split the rent . com just to get a general idea of what sort of split might be reasonable. It factors in each person’s size of room, closet, window, type of layout, private bath or no, etc. It’s an interesting site and can come in handy as a starting point.</p>
<p>bonnie - never heard of that website, I’m going to check it out even though my daughter and her roommates have decided everything already, I’m just curious. </p>
<p>Last year my daughter lived with two girls she didn’t know all that well and the one who found the apartment and was the main lease holder took the smaller room as a single, my daughter had the larger room with a roommate but took the extra bathroom to herself (and company) so that the third girl could pay a little less as money was more of an issue for her. They got along great and had a wonderful time together but Freshman year they had each promised to room with other friends so they kept their promises although they weren’t all that happy about it at first.</p>
<p>This year it’s with friends from her Freshman dorm in a nicer, closer, 3 br/2 bath and my daughter has the larger single and is paying more for it, another girl has the smaller, no closet single (it’s called a den technically), and two girls are sharing the largest room. Again, it was a money issue as to who got what and since money’s not an issue for us my daughter is paying a little more than her fair share. The girls did offer her the bathroom for herself but she thought that was ridiculous to have 3 girls share one bathroom just so she could have her own, but it was nice that they did. Hopefully this year works as well as last year!</p>
<p>Bonnie, that’s a great site and I wish I would have known about it last year. D handled all the details for the apartment but I foolishly insisted she not be “greedy” and take the smaller room. This year I just stayed out of it.</p>