Letting out a portion of your flat is a good idea. It will bring money to your pocket. And offer you companionship. It will even give you the opportunity to split your utility bills. The idea of subletting sounds really beautiful, but one needs to consider a lot of things. Because, as beautiful as it sounds, it may lead to the worst nightmare. Below are three crucial questions to ask yourself, before subletting your flat.
Can You Cope with Somebody that is not Your Family Member?
Most times, we cope with our parents and siblings because we have grown up to be used to one another. Coping with a stranger may be difficult. Some introverts cannot keep up with other people’s character. Some, cannot even stand people who talk too much. At times, we claim we can cope with our friends. But the truth is, as is it is in marriage, you tend to keep getting pissed off with what your friend does when you start living together. The value depreciates, you get an idea of things he regards as private. He also gets an idea of yours. This may lead to conflict.
Can You Manage Relationship Effectively?
This point is a corollary to the above point, living with a stranger or a friend has a lot to do with maturity and ability to manage relationships. If you are tolerant and you can accommodate people’s flaws, subletting your flat may be a big plus for you. But if you are not, it may end in multiple crises. Be honest with yourself, pick up a pen and a paper and write out the things that you can tolerate and the things you can’t. If you are a neat freak or a highly meticulous having a messy flatmate is not advisable. Thus, you may have to look for someone that you are sure is as meticulous as you are or someone that is patient enough to tolerate your excesses.
How Can You Connect?
Getting someone to sublet your flat, is a lot of work. If you decide to accommodate a stranger because you want to be paid well for your subletting, you will definitely need the services of an agent. This can be risky as it is very important to connect with the right agents. There are so many fraud cases that can be traced to unfaithful agents when it comes to accommodation. You and your new flatmates may be victims of unfaithful agents.
As an undergraduate, I wanted to sublet my space for companionship and money. I contacted some agents. At the end of the deal, I discovered that I was only given 50% of what collected from the girl (who is now my friend). Worse still the girl wasn’t comfortable staying in the place. So she had to leave I regretted ever collecting money from her. I apologised to my friend one year after school. It’s is important to consider the comfort you are offering your flatmate as well.
To connect the right agent you can visit our website www.tolet.com.ng.
