My understanding is that apartments are broken down by room, then split by person, so if you have 2 in a two-bedroom, each person pays half the rent, 2 in a one-bedroom, each person pays half the rent. To save money, I've been splitting a two-bedroom with 4 guys (each person pays a quarter). We may encounter a situation wherein we have 3 in a two-bedroom. My understanding is 1 person would pay half the rent and the other two would pay a quarter (the obvious trade-off is the freedom of room). My roommates want to break it down by square footage of the apartment, whereby whoever gets his own room (Roommate X), pays X/(Number of roommates) for the communal areas plus the percentage of square footage of his room. It's the difference of $10-20 per month, but I really don't want to subsidize someone else living by themselves (which I would, if my original premise is true).

What's the fairest way to determine rent? Any other complicated Mr. Wizard formulas?

6/19/2013 11:37:50 PM

so you have a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 people

1 bedroom is 1 person, and the other bedroom is shared by 2 people?

I'd propose something like 42/29/29 or some random shit like that

having your own room is great, but doesnt change that you all equally share kitchen, living room, etc

6/19/2013 11:45:12 PM

If they get their own room, they definitely pay the majority of the rent. I don't think 50% of total rent is unreasonable. Consider the case of having a dating couple in one room and a single in another. I think most people would agree that the couple would pay 50% of the total rent together, and the single would pay the other 50%. Doesn't seem very different to me.

6/19/2013 11:53:14 PM

Quote :

"42/29/29"

this sounds pretty reasonable. I don't think there's an objective way to decide this...I find 50% to be too large (if the dude's paying half the rent, but he's got two other people using his kitchen, that would kind of suck for him) but obviously he should pay more. So it's just a matter of agreeing on a middle ground.

Again, 42/29/29 sounds about right.

6/19/2013 11:59:59 PM

Rent is split per room, utilities is split per person.


However, if you will be the one landing the room to yourself... then go for the square footage scam

6/20/2013 12:03:19 AM

I had a 2 bedroom apartment that I shared with my gf (now wife) and a friend. We divided the rent by square footage and worked the $/sf. We then calculated rent:
Friend:
(Common Space square footage/3 * $/sf) + (Friend's room sf * $/sf) = rent

Me
(Common Space square footage/3 * $/sf) + (Our room & bathroom * ($/sf)/2) = Rent
Same for GF.

It was the best way for us since the perks of each room was different. My GF and I had a bigger room and private bath, but it was shared between the 2 of us. My friend had his own room, smaller, and his bath was in the common area and everyone plus our guests used it. This way everyone paid for their exact share of the apartment space.

We split utilities (water & electric) three ways evenly. He paid for the bulk of the internet, because the two of us had no need for high speed or the money for it and he was basically spending 20 hours a day playing World of Warcraft and had some cash saved up.

[Edited on June 20, 2013 at 12:09 AM. Reason : ]

6/20/2013 12:09:15 AM

Since different bedroom/bathroom size/layout was brought up, I'll just note that my method assumes identical living spaces, like a typical college apartment with same size bedrooms/bathrooms/etc., etc. I don't think that's a bad assumption considering the OP currently has 4 people in a 2-bedroom, and they're splitting rent equally already. If there was a large room and small room I would think that they would already be adjusting rent based on that alone.

6/20/2013 12:25:41 AM

I have done 40/30/30 for a similar situation, but if there differences in the BR's, then of course that would be factored. Utilities split 1/3.

[Edited on June 20, 2013 at 8:10 AM. Reason : ]

6/20/2013 8:08:37 AM

I had 3 people living in a 3 bedroom. We split it 40/30/30 based on the fact that my roommate in the Master BR had his own bathroom, and that the other roommate and I had to share a bathroom.

6/20/2013 9:12:37 AM

one of the fairest things to do in these situations is for one person to set the ratios, and a second person gets to choose if they get the room alone.

thus, if your other roommate feels a certain rate is fair, then you get to choose if you want the big room. it works better with a two person system than three, but if only two people have an issue, then it may work.

it sounds like your roommates think the cheaper rate for the big room is fairer. if that is the case, and you think it's a great deal, then you should have the option of taking the big room, and you should do it, because you'll be getting a "deal."

6/20/2013 11:13:01 AM

We did a 40/30/30 because of the master and bathroom situation. Utilities split evenly.

6/20/2013 12:43:38 PM

math is hard yo

6/20/2013 12:55:34 PM

i lived in a 2 bedroom and the guy's girlfriend (now wife) moved in. We split it by thirds because yes they were sharing a room, but the majority of the apartment was still shared by all 3 of us.

6/20/2013 1:32:15 PM

I've always use the floorplan to split rent via sq.ft. It makes the most sense.

6/20/2013 3:14:59 PM

^^ That's how most people i know would do it.

6/20/2013 6:01:50 PM

Quote :

"I've always use the floorplan to split rent via sq.ft. It makes the most sense."

We'll probably go this route.

Quote :

"i lived in a 2 bedroom and the guy's girlfriend (now wife) moved in. We split it by thirds because yes they were sharing a room, but the majority of the apartment was still shared by all 3 of us."

We're two way-hetero males, not a couple sharing a room, so it makes since to go somewhere further away from a three-way split and closer to a 50-25-25 split. I feel like the cost of one's privacy is high, but maybe I'm overvaluing it just to save $30-40 a month. Depending on the floor plan, it will most likely be a 44-28-28 split to account for common areas like the living room (which one can escape to on certain nights). Hopefully this will all be a moot point if we find extra roommates to make it a four-way split.

Thanks for your input, guys.

6/20/2013 9:36:05 PM

you can always blind bid (everyone write the % on a paper)

6/20/2013 9:44:10 PM

http://www.roomiecalc.com/

6/20/2013 10:36:59 PM

Niiiiiiice!

6/20/2013 11:45:42 PM

If I was the dude paying half your rent I'd act like I owned your ass.

Half the couch space would be mine, half the kitchen table would be mine. I'd be kicking people out of the kitchen like I owned the fucking joint.


If its 1 bathroom half the bathroom would be mine etc.

To be honest I would be looking to ditch a roommate or fine a new one elsewhere.

Sure the people splitting the room feel like their privacy is invaded but the person paying half would also prefer to only deal with 1 other asshole in the house not two.

I'm not trying to be an asshole I just don't like living with people and having to put up with extra dirty dishes, extra drama in the house and all this shit while paying twice what the other two are.... FUCK THAT.

That being said I have paid more to have the master bedroom or something like that before but 50 /25/25 I'd be like "you broke asses better figure out how to pay 50/50 on your own cause im out"

6/21/2013 4:45:56 AM

When I used to rent out my spare rooms it was always by the room. Sometimes people would move significant others or family in their room with them, but the rent stayed the same.

6/21/2013 8:19:20 AM

I had another situation where there were 3 of us in a 3 bedroom. I had the Master w/bath so I paid 40, the other 2 roomates shared a bathroom so they paid 30 each. I had a friend fall on some hard times so he had to come live with me for a few months. We shared the Master and the Master bath, so we kept the split the same taking into consideration that the other 2 roommates were already sharing a bathroom anyway. As far as the "inconvenience" of having an extra person in the house, we just agreed that it was worth it for the cheaper utilities. (4 way split vs. 3 way split)

[Edited on June 21, 2013 at 8:58 AM. Reason : a]

6/21/2013 8:56:59 AM

this is true... but imho... there is a big difference between two and 3 people in a house... 3 to 4 for me is like ... well it was a nightmare anyway... might as well make it a cheaper nightmare.


2 is pretty easy to maintain some stability and still have some "me time" 3 people.... fuck that... the tv just became something that we need to vote what channel its on... someone is almost always home when you want to be so there is 0 privacy in the house outside your room.

6/21/2013 9:31:24 AM

I guess it helped in my situation that we all got along really well. I lived with 2 of the guys for 6 years at 3 different houses, and they are still 2 of my best friends (Best Man in one of their weddings, Groomsman in the other).

6/21/2013 9:48:01 AM

Quote :

"We're two way-hetero males, not a couple sharing a room, so it makes since to go somewhere further away from a three-way split and closer to a 50-25-25 split. "

Two hetero males sharing an apartment room? wat?

and i thought you were gay as a dude who buys brawny paper towels for the packaging, but i might have you confused with supplanter?

[Edited on June 22, 2013 at 7:49 PM. Reason : ]

6/22/2013 7:41:13 PM

I thought "Wicked" was all right.

6/23/2013 4:21:32 PM