5 Surefire Ways To Handle Roommate Problems

Moving into your flat can be exciting, you get to meet your roommates and of course you intend to get along with all of them. But sometimes choosing to live with strangers (or anyone) can get problematic. For that reason you have to be reasonable (clean after yourself, turn the music down, participate in group cleaning, mind your words to others’ and respect others religious and cultural practices)… However, there may come a time when you will have a misunderstanding, fight, or just roommate problems in general. This could lead to a serious dispute. Solving these roommate problems can be difficult because at that moment of the dispute nobody seems to want to listen to each other, and there will be shouting and screaming (and worse case scenario) it will turn to violence. To ensure this doesn’t happen, keep reading for five surefire ways to handle roommate problems before they escalate to the worst possible outcome.

1. Discuss the roommate problems openly.

Try and be calm in an argument and calmly ask your flatmate to sit and discuss the issue- it may be a simple misunderstanding.

2. Make sure you listen to what they have to say.

Grant them the respect you expect. Listen to what they have to say instead of thinking about how you’re going to respond when they’re speaking.

3. Negotiate fairly.

After you have discussed the situation and you are both calm, the next step is to negotiate. When negotiating you must know that both of your needs are concerned- do not try to get the best deal out of it, be fair.

4. Put yourself in their shoes and ask them to do the same.

Try your best to imagine how they’re thinking and what they might feel. You can even request that they do the same to further prove your point.

5. Ask housing officers to interfere as a last resort.

Some people will not want to discuss or negotiate. No need to keep putting on a fight, contact the residence officers for them to deal with any roommate problems that are out of your control.