Big a1

Evening folks,

Toying with the idea of moving out of the parental home into a flatsharing type of living. Just after peoples opinions/experiences on this sort of thing...

Current sitaution, 22yo male, I travel 80 miles a day for work and earn 21k. Thinking of moving closer to work, thus leaving friends etc behind

If i rent a room for say £250 ish (incl bills) do I get the use of the living room etc and what potential pitfalls could I run into??

I'm a non smoker, that does a lot of mountain biking thus will have two bikes. A car needing parking and an aspiring drummer in need of practice time although I have an electric practice kit that is pretty much silent so hopefully that won't be too much of a prob.

I'm thinking of moving to sheffield and would like to move in with people in a similiar situation.

is it a good idea or am I daft for paying someone else's mortgage?

thx

brumdaisy

It's completely hit and miss Im afraid. You could end up making some great new friends, you could end up utterly miserable - Ive done both!

I've found that you learn nothing about the people by just going round there for a viewing or two - bit like going on a first date them deciding to marry them.

The key is for you to be flexible and considerate to the other people you live with and for them to reciprocate!

You do get to understand more about the costs of living and it is charactor building

TopBanana

If they ask you lots of questions about yourself, take it to mean they've got a happy house and they don't want someone messing it up. If they just want someone in to pay the bills it might not be so much fun. Three of my mates share a house and it's working out very well.

2000TLondon

My advise would be to definetly give it a go, and don't try and create any issues before you have started looking. If you are to give it a shot, do it now before the students return pushing prices up and availability down.

Ideally it would be best if you could live with people you know or are familiar with, like friends of a friend. And I would suggest upping your budget, although I am not familiar with Sheffied prices, don't try and do it on the cheap as living in a hovel with smack heads won't be good for you! If 250 a month will just get you a bedsit type room, (i'm guessing this is cheap to rent any sort of flat?) try looking at flats that are slightly more so you may end up with something clean, safe and with good facilities! And also look at places that are at the top of your budget so you have a comparison. I used to spend about a third of my take home on rent......

Otherwise, trawl Loot or whatever you have locally and make dozens of appointments as close together as possible so hopefully you end up with a choice.

Generally you would share all living accomodation apart from your bedroom, so you can expect an interview process. As mentioned before, if your potential new flatmates don't care who moves in, I'd avoid living there.

Rent a copy of Shallow Grave with Ewan McGregor if you haven't seen it!

If you do find a place you like, and they like you, suggest going for a drink for a few hours to be sure you all get on, as you'll probably be on a minimum of a six month contract!

Good luck!

Big a1

[quote=2000TLondon]My advise would be to definetly give it a go, and don't try and create any issues before you have started looking. If you are to give it a shot, do it now before the students return pushing prices up and availability down. /quote]

Thats a good point i'd not thought of that

Average prices seem to be 200-300, so I suppose i'll get a better idea when i've seen a few places.

Thanks for views so far - anybody else ???