POLL! help me out with a roommate decision UPDATE!

[EmperorIQ]

I live in 2bd apartment, i have 1 room, my friend has another room. I pay 677 and he pays 817. His room is about 1.3 -1.4 times the size of mine. He now is beginning to feel that he doesn't want to pay the extra cash for his room, and have asked me to switch rooms with him. Saying that he thinks it fair that he pays the extra cash for the room this year and i'll pay the extra next year, so we both will be even in the end. But I do not think that the situation can be looked at simply that (the fairness). OH yea, and the only reason why i'd do it, is to help out a friend, and not because i think its fair. Do you guys think I should switch? If yes or no, please explain.

UPDATE:

So here is the update. I talked to him and I told him that I won't switch, and I gave him the following explanation:

"Last year we both wanted the bigger room, and you argued, and offered to pay more for it to take it. I decided to let you have it then, even though an extra 20 bucks a month isn't a big deal to me. So all of a sudden you don't like your big room and want the smaller one, and that's just not fair, despite what you think about the money. You will get what you want 2 years in a row."

So I basically let him know that I felt that he was using our friendship to his advantage to put a guilt trip on me, etc. I told him we can either find another roommate or move out, and we both agreed to move out. I'm going to commute my last year of college! Don't worry, we're still very good friends, there is no tension between us.

 

[ggnl]

Can you afford it? If you can it would be nice to have a bigger room. I've paid extra to have the bigger room before.

 

[Papagayo]

I think it's fair..

 

[TwiceOver]

Other than the cost of rent on that two bedroom, switching sounds like the reasonable thing to do. Must be a pretty spanky 2 bedroom for nearly $1500/mo.

 

[AnyMal]

Well, you did say you want to help out your friend, so , yes. Unless you'll hurt for money, in which case you shouldn't and your friend will hopefully understand.

OTOH, why not just divvy up your rent evenly?

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: EmperorIQ
I live in 2bd apartment, i have 1 room, my friend has another room. I pay 677 and he pays 817. His room is about 1.3 -1.4 times the size of mine. He now is beginning to feel that he doesn't want to pay the extra cash for his room, and have asked me to switch rooms with him. Saying that he thinks it fair that he pays the extra cash for the room this year and i'll pay the extra next year, so we both will be even in the end. But I do not think that the situation can be looked at simply that (the fairness). OH yea, and the only reason why i'd do it, is to help out a friend, and not because i think its fair. Do you guys think I should switch? If yes or no, please explain.

it seems pretty fair to me.

 

[AdamSnow]

Do you want a bigger room? If so - Switch... if not... say you are comfortable where you are and you dont want to move everything...

 

[EmperorIQ]

man, everyone that responded says it fair, but those that said not to switch in the poll did not respond!

about whether or not I can afford it, I don't know. I know for sure that he can, but me, its hard to say. I have began to work, so my financial aid won't be as much next year, and i'll probably have to work more for that room too.

 

[Nohr]

It doesn't seem like it's worth the hassle or the extra money if you're not really interested in the bigger room.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

sounds fair to me, but you should have worked this out in advance

 

[Ilmater]

Sounds totally fair to me. You can't really put a perfectly accurate price on extra space, so splitting time paying the extra and having the extra room sounds perfectly fair to me.

Now, tell me where the fvck you live that it costs $1500 for a 2br apt.

 

[Pepsei]

it seems fair, but you can always move out.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Fvck that - if you don't want to do it, let him pay for his decision.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

If you cannot afford it, then you cannot afford it. May'be close the gap a little between the prices? Where did the original figures (677 and 817) come from? Price per square foot?

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Jehovah
Fvck that - if you don't want to do it, let him pay for his decision.

you'd make a great roomie

 

[AMDZen]

It seems only fair.

 

[SilentVixen]

He never should have chose that room in the first place. It's not fair for you to have to pay for his decisions or to have to pack up your stuff to save his lame ass $$$.

 

[CRXican]

sounds fair

either that or just pay half and half

 

[MagicConch]

If it were me I would just kick in an extra 25 a month or so just to get him to quit whining and leave everything as it is b/c I wouldn't want the hassle of switching rooms.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: EmperorIQ
I pay 677 and he pays 817.

It sounds like your roommate doesn't think it's worth the extra money for the bigger room. If you want to give him another chance, here is the fair way to do it.

Your roommate decides how much each room is worth. He can make it an even $747 for each room, leave it at the current $677/$817, or anything inbetween. Then after he comes up with a fair price split, you decide if it's worth changing rooms. That is the most fair way to do it.

The only other thing to think about is that all else being equal it's easier to stay in the room you are in simply because moving all your crap will take time.

 

[poopaskoopa]

No, it's not fair.

To you.

I don't know how you guys decided who's going to live in which room, but if he took the bigger room and he wanted it, then "fair" is keeping things the way they are. To say that spending the same amount of money over the next two years is "fair" is just a sales tactic on his part. I'd personally take the bigger room, but if you don't want to spend the money, and you're prepared to lose this one and look for another roommate, then tell him what you think.

 

[EmperorIQ]

thanks for the responses guys. a little more detail on the big room.

we both wanted the big room at first, and i said, lets just switch, so we both will have equal chances in the big room. He said no, and said "I'll pay an extra 20 on top of the difference" to that i said, fine. So now he feels its not worth it. It was his initial offer to keep it for both years, and i just suddenly feel obligated to move when this wasn't the agreement.

 

[JonTom]

Your roommate decides how much each room is worth. He can make it an even $747 for each room, leave it at the current $677/$817, or anything inbetween. Then after he comes up with a fair price split, you decide if it's worth changing rooms. That is the most fair way to do it.

BING BING BING we have a winner