What I didn’t expect when house sharing

We interviewed 5 people and here is what they didn’t expect when house sharing….

How much fun it would be…

I moved into a share house with two guys and a girl I had never met before. The place was pretty small and grimey – but boy did we have fun. Everyone had lived in a share house before so they were pretty chilled. We all just got along so well, we pitched in and got things sorted. After a year one of the housemates moved out, the new person was a bit of a cleaning Nazi and she wanted to do a cleaning roster and was a bit of a nag, the dynamic changed and slowly we all moved out.

Siobhan, 25

How inflexible some people (including me) could be…

From cleaning to noise or paying the bills on time, everyone has their standards. I thought I would be more chilled out than I was. My first share house was a complete disaster. My housemate had no regard for anyone else and was a bit of a spoiled brat, to be honest. I ended up becoming the nagger and was constantly cleaning up after her. I hated it. I learned pretty quickly to ask specific questions and set my expectations before I moved in with someone else again.

Tony, 27

How much some people hate having a significant other stay a few days a week.

My new girlfriend would stay over on weekends and occasionally during the week. After a couple of months, the other housemates confronted me about her paying part of the rent and utilities. They were nice about it but it was a little annoying, I didn’t think we were using any more power or water than when I was there on my own. One of them said she was ruining the dynamic of the house – WTF! I ended up paying a little more in rent and she cooked meals for everyone now and again. Once she finished Uni, we moved in together – I’ll never houseshare again.

Rob, 29

How much people hide away in their room

In the 2 1/2 years, I lived with my flatmate, I hardly saw her. She would come home from Uni or work and just go straight into her room. She had an ensuite and a fridge and would just stay in her room day and night. It was a bit weird in the beginning and I started to hide away as well, but after a while, I just started to use the living room, eat meals in the kitchen and invited people over. She just liked being on her own I guess – it was a bit weird though.

Anna, 32

How to Unclench

I used to get so frustrated with people leaving their dirty dishes in the living room for days, clumps of toothpaste in the sink – petty things really. After I realised that I was the only one getting annoyed I just stopped worrying about them and focused on saving money so I could move out on my own.

Peter, 27

The best thing we work out from asking folk ‘What I didn’t expect when House Sharing’ is if you thought your siblings’ habits were annoying – wait until you live with someone random. Keep in the back of your mind that it’s not forever. You can have fantastic experiences and you can have shitty ones. As long as you feel safe in your environment, you’ll be okay until the next opportunity comes along. Save your money, make some friends and jog on if you need to.

Always remember, living in a house share is not forever.

More Reading: This Happened