Living in an apartment for rent alone v.s with roommates.
Thinking of stepping into the world of independent living? Or maybe you’re thinking about renting out an apartment in Malta with a group of your friends? I mean who hasn;t dreamt about being part of the Friends cast? Your choice highly depends on your financial situation and what you can afford every month. Are you a lone wolf or prefer to travel in a pack? Writing up a pros and cons list is a must when making this sort of decision, so we’ve done it for you.
Advantages of finding a roommate for your apartment for rent.
Living with friends is on most people’s bucket list especially if you’re still a student looking to find an apartment in Malta fit for a group of friends. For those whose aim is to buy a property as soon as possible after saving for the deposit, this is probably your best bet as you can save on expenses. Here’s some advice on how to find the perfect roommate.
1. Sharing is caring
The great thing about finding and sharing an apartment for rent is that the responsibility of maintenance and upkeep is shared between tenants and doesn’t fall on just one person. Aside from share of responsibility, rent is also shared making it less of a daunting experience when it’s that time of the month. Sharing costs like grocery, shopping and electricity and water bills will help keep up with other expenses. Being as you’ll be more people you’ll also have the luxury of finding a bigger apartment for rent. Spending all that time together means you’ll grow to either love or hate each other or maybe a bit of both. That daily coffee in the morning, weekly movie nights rituals and monthly group gatherings at your flat for rent will all be bonding experiences that you cherish for a lifetime.
2. You’ll never feel lonely
If you find the right place you’ll be able to have your alone time in your own space but never feel lonely. Especially if you’re coming to Malta for the first time and are not familiar with what’s going on around the island this could be the perfect way to integrate yourself and will be the first step to networking the islands. This also means you might not have privacy for the most part. Try to work on finding your own space where you can go for an escape.
3. Messy flatmate, messy flat.
If you’re the clean freak of the group, patience is a virtue. Try to be as organised as possible and respect people’s ways of living. Ground rules will probably save you from many futile fights so make sure to agree on a strategic way to ensure that you don’t overstep your boundaries or laze around.
Advantages of finding an apartment for rent alone.
1. No rule followers
Being a lone wolf means no rules as you make them and can break them as you please. There is also much less accountability for your actions and issues, no one is going to tell you what to do or not to do.
2. Pick any style of furniture
It is immensely difficult to agree on a piece of furniture that you and your roommate both agree on. It’s very rare to actually have the same style and preferences so stick to jazzing up your section of the apartment for rent. Here’s Refinery29’s take on this.
3. No more stealing food!
Labelling your food is a thing of the past! The fear of one of your roommates stealing your Bigualla from the fridge and Galletti (even though they are just too tempting). No worrying about finishing the hot water before your roommate gets into shower or worse than that, not having warm water for yourself. But then again, you’ll have no one to blame your breakages on. You and only you (and possibly those 2 bottles of wine) are responsible for breaking all 6 of your wine glasses.
Main blog photo courtesy of Cottonbro