Randos and You: A Handy Guide

By Lev Novak

Even the best laid plans can go astray, and let’s face it- your plans to “get an apartment or something” aren’t exactly fool-proof. Things happen. A friend might go away for a semester, or your dream apartment needs one more bed to be filled. And if that’s the case, than you’ll be ushered into the exciting world of randos!

Yes, randos- random people, plucked from obscurity to be your roomies. But how to separate the good from the bad? That’s an art form.

1. Be Flexible On Cash.

You have to be realistic in any scenario, and in subletting especially, many people want the cheapest, least murder-y apartment they can find. That means two things: one, if you want to fill that empty bedroom, you need to compete with other apartments and two, your price point can be your leverage.

Consider: if you have a room worth $600, you’ll be lucky to get $500 for it. That’s just the way subletting works. However, if you’re smart, you and your friends might want to lower that rent to $450 or less. That way you cast a bigger net, and more applicants will come through. For filling a third bedroom, $25 a month (or $17, split three ways) is a small price to pay for a reliable, cool, and calm roomie. If you try to charge too much, people might not show up…and those that do will be the weird left-overs of that the cheaper-charging sublet rejected.

Don’t live with a guy named “Shovel.” Charge $50 less than you think.

2. Learn the *Real* Them.

Let’s say you get a response to your ad online. It’s a friendly guy named Steve. Steve goes to your college, and while you don’t know him, Facebook says you have twenty mutual friends, so it can’t be that bad. Time to sign him up, right? Not yet. You have to find out about him.

Here’s the catch, though: if you ask them these things upright, they’re going to play you. Imagine yourself in a job interview: are you telling the truth, or nodding to get the job? Exactly. If you really want to know what they’re like, you ask them to “describe themselves. The more the better” and the truth will come out.

Did he say he was “clean?” Clean is always nice. Did he say “a bit of a neat freak?” That’s a disaster waiting to happen. Did he say he was 4/20 friendly? Okay, but if he brought it up first he’s a little more than friendly.

3. Know What You Want

This is the last trick of subletting, and frankly, it can be the hardest one. After you lowered your price and got a whole crop of roomie-options, the selection comes. And here, the most important thing, is to know what you want.

That’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you want a clean guy or a party dude? Is a friend-of-a-friend’s ex a good pick since you know them, or a bad call due to tangental drama? There are lots of hidden choices in your subletting but they can be summed up in two categories.

Going For It

This consists of taking the fun guy who’ll be in your life for better or worse, or:

Playing it Safe…

Which consists of taking the nice but boring guy who’ll spend all day in his room, say “no thank you” to an offered beer.

Either ones have pros and cons, and they aren’t always equal: the “go for it” guy might be a new friend with parties and good times aplenty or he could be the guy who eats your left-over chinese food and wakes you up with Young Jeezy on a Monday night. Playing it safe is boring, sure, but it’s safe, and that’s good…right?

That’s up to you. But by following the two tips above, you’ll have a good field of candidates of both “going for it” and “playing it safe” options to choose from.

Share this article: