Tidbits on creating a “Roommate wanted” ad

Tidbits on creating a “Roommate wanted” ad

Advertising yourself to be able to find the adequate roommate for you to share expenses in an apartment located as close as possible to the college or the university campus is not as hard as your might think. If you are considering advertise in the college or university campus bulletin boards, here are some pointers.

• Give your ad a title.

What ever you title your ad with, will be the attention catcher that will make any potential roommates to stop on their tracks and read your ad. Of course, you can use attention catchers such as “FREE MP3″, but if you are looking to develop a serious and centered personality, then this approach might not appeal to you.

Other titles can be: “SEEKING APARTMENT ROOMMATE”, “CARE TO SHARE AN APARTMENT WITH ME?”

• Be as specific as possible without going overboard

Regardless if you already have leased the apartment and are looking for someone to share it with, then you need to specify if the roommate that you are looking for will have an opportunity to have a say on the furniture acquisition. Also state if you are looking for a male or a female, an age range, if you are willing or able to provide him or her with a bedroom for his or her own.

However, you need to avoid posting how much you expect the roommate to pitch in with rent or the apartment expenses that you want the roommate to share with you. This will come when you meet him or her for the first time. Another thing that you need to state is if you are willing to take in pets, overnight visitors, parties and if you are OK that your roommate drinks and/or smokes

• Keep your contact information to a safe minimum

Ask for all potential roommates call you to your cell phone or drop you a line or two through the email. Talk to your parents and explain to them that you might even need to give the home number and that, if the case calls for it, they might need to change the number; this is particularly important if you are a woman.

• Do not accept anyone immediately

It is likely that as a student he or she will not be able to provide you with a reference letter or that you will not be able to provide them to your potential roommates. Therefore, you will need to think and consider carefully if the personality that the potential roommate has showed you is adequate and corresponds to who you are.