How to Find a Room for Rent

A room for rent is not the same as an apartment for rent. A room for rent is typically one bedroom in a house with shared common areas such as the kitchen and living room. People looking for roommates to share housing expenses commonly advertise rooms for rent. It's easy to find a room for rent, and there are a couple good ways to do it.

Instructions

Checking the Papers

1. Pick up a copy of your local daily newspaper. The Sunday edition will often have the most comprehensive classified ads. If your community has alternative or free weekly papers, get copies of those, too.

2. Scan the classified ads. Newspaper classifieds often have separate categories for apartments and rooms for rent. Have an idea of how much you want to spend for rent, what areas of town you're willing to live in, and what kind of amenities you require -- say, laundry machines or a place to park. Look for ads that meet your criteria.

3. Contact the person who took out the ad. It's a good idea to check the place out before committing to rent, so schedule a showing.

4. Visit the classified ads section of the newspaper's website if you don't find any good offerings in print. Newspapers sometimes have new ads online that have yet to make it into the printed paper.

Finding Rooms Online

1. Visit Roommates.com. This website has a database of tens of thousands of people looking for roommates in hundreds of cities across the country.

2. Search for a room. You can join Roommates.com for free as a member, or just do a quick search for rooms for rent. Under the "QuickView" tab on the homepage, select "I Need a Room," then select your state, then enter your city.

3. Look over the search results. Each result will include the gender and age of the person renting the room, whether he or she is a smoker, the location of the room, the type of dwelling (such as townhouse, condo or single-family home) and the amount of rent. You need to be a member to view more details and contact information.

4. Do a roommate search. Sign up for a free membership at Roommates.com, and create a profile. Indicate your room and roommate preferences. Select your desired move-in date, the maximum amount of rent you are willing to pay, and the term you'd like to rent for. Provide information about yourself. Then search for matches.

5. Visit Craigslist.org for other options. Choose your state, then your city. Under "Housing," click "Rooms / Shared."

References

• Roommates.com
• Craigslist.org