How to get honest answers when looking for a roommate

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Basically, the first and only thing I really care about at this point in my life is getting 8 hours of sleep a night.

I specifically moved from my last place because my roommates were up all hours of the night.

Before I moved into the new place, I specifically asked my new roommate about nighttime noise, both in terms of his schedule and the environment. His responses led me to believe that there would be no problems with noise at night.

The roommate is OK, but the people above me are very often walking around in the middle of the night. One of them is obese, and it's an old building, so a lot of noise gets transferred through the floor.

I also have problems with insomnia. While I can get to sleep without difficulty, once woken up, it is very difficult for me to get back to sleep. For example, I was woken up at 3AM this morning, and have been unable to sleep since. (before you ask, I tried to get back to sleep well over an hour before turning on the computer).

At $1000 a month and up for getting my own apartment in this area, I cannot afford that right now, so I am forced into a roommate situation. I'd like to leave the area for somewhere cheaper, but I have no savings and a low amount of job experience, making finding a company that will pay relocation difficult.

How do I ensure that the next place I move to is quiet at night?

1) visit the area at night as best you can

2) if the doors are on the outside drop of some anonymous surveys asking residents to complete questions about the issues they have concerns with

3) apartments that you enter from the outside of the building ofter have thicker walls than apartments where you have to walk into a building. You also won't encounter people hanging out in the halls in the former.


4) Try to get a shortterm lease because even an ideal apartment can become a horror in a short time. When I was 19 I moved into a nice quiet apartment building. No trouble at all but after about 4 months they changed it so assistant managers could also rent out rooms -when I moved in only the head manager could and she made an effort to judge the people who walked in and check references (she had told me that). The assistances let anyone who asked about an apartment rent one. By the time I moved out there needed to be a police car in the parking lot every night and the only reason I hadn't called the police on one of my neighbors is that my job required me coming home at 3 am.

Older people tend to be less prone to being up all hours of the night. Although that is not to say that they may have sleep problems that are hard for you to predict in the interview.

I would look for someone 30+ if in your situation to least raise the probability that they will give you greater peace at night. Another thing to consider is shift workers, people who work while you are sleeping and sleep at home during the day.

Something to consider at least, until you have the money to have a place to yourself.

Try asking if you can spend a night there to see what it's like.

If it's an apartment/condo look for online reviews.

Make sure to specify in ads you might run that you need quiet.

Google your prospective roommate.