Since I work at a local Gainesville apartments company, my friends often ask me what I think when it comes to roommates. Is it worth the cost savings? Is it a good idea in terms of liability? How do we find an apartment together and agree? What if I don't have a roommate in mind; should I use roommate matching?

The answers aren't the same for everyone.

Of course, the easy answer is YES! You save a ton of money every month by getting a roommate. At most apartment complexes, there is a 30% or larger savings when you choose to live in a 2 bedroom apartment instead of a 1 bedroom floorplan. An apartment that costs $1000-$1100 or more for a 1 bedroom costs just $1400-$1500 for a 2 bedroom. When you split that rent with a roommate, you'll see a savings of more than $250 per month in rent alone. Consider that you'll also be splitting the cost of set monthly fees like Hi-Speed Ethernet (typically costs about $40-$60 per month) and cable (typically costs $75-$85 in Gainesville through Cox ), which don't increase at all when you add roommates. You'll also have costs like electricity, which increase slightly as you add roommates, but you still save TONS by splitting the cost to heat/cool the apartment, etc. You could be saving $100-$150 per month in utilities and bills by splitting them with a roommate. At Ashton Lane (one of the Gainesville apartments that I work with), you can save over $600 per month by choosing to live in a 3 bedroom rather than a 1 bedroom, after you factor in all of these bills. That's a savings of over $7000 per year or $28,000 over the four years most students are attending the University of Florida.

For adding a third and fourth roommate, cost savings are not as significant. A 3 bedroom apartment is typically a little less expensive than living in a 2 bedroom, and a 4 bedroom is a little less than living in a 3--- but these savings do not match the savings of living in a 2 bedroom vs a 1 bedroom. It's even less expensive to live in a 2 bedroom than to live in a small studio, per person.

If you are willing to share the apartment bathroom, you can also save a lot: 2BR/1BA floorplans are typically 20% less expensive per person than a 2/2.

In terms of choosing between roommate matching and living with a friend, you should choose very carefully. Most UF students think that living with a friend is far smarter than living with "a stranger" (which is how they think of roommate matching)-- but that's actually a misnomer. Roommate matching isn't the same as living with a random roommate. Apartment complexes take into account the main issues that students who live together have, and match roommates based on these principles. Good roommate matching considers:

* Do any of the roommates have any pets that will be living in the apartment?

* Do any of the roommates smoke?

* What will be the tolerance for having boyfriends/girlfriends spend the night in the apartment?

* Are you a morning or night person? Typically, it's better for students with similar schedules to live together, so that the noise of one person cooking in the kitchen or watching TV in the living room doesn't wake the other roommate up.

* What's the tolerance for parties in the apartment?

* Do you study more in the apartment, or hang out in the apartment? If you use the apartment more for socializing, be sure to choose a roommate who likes to study in the library and not at home.

* Do you both want to share food and cleaning supplies? Or is it each man for himself?

* How quickly do you clean the apartment? Do the dishes? Take out trash?

* Do you like to turn the a/c down very low? Are you energy conscious?

* Do you have the same budgets?

* Do you both want the same kind of apartment?

Instead of considering these factors, most students who choose their own roommates just choose to live with their closest friends. Sometimes, this is a disaster--- particularly when ground rules for happy living aren't set before you move in together.

In many cases, if the apartment complex considers these issues and has a good roommate matching questionnaire, the roommates will get along better if they let the apartment complex do the roommate matching for them. Some apartments (like The Courtyards ) have higher roommate satisfaction ratings from students who use roommate matching than students who choose their own roommates. If you aren't sure if you should live with your best friend, I'd highly recommend that you both go to an apartment complex and ask if you can borrow two of their roommate matching forms. You can also look them up online in many cases. Fill them out SEPARATELY and compare your answers. Are you a good roommate match?