The nuts and bolts of moving into a new community house
Four simple things to do right at the beginning
Congratulations! You and your friends have found a great home and you’re excited to move in.
You’re caught up in the New Relationship Energy of the home, excited for all the fun times to come and an end to the lonely life you had before. Also there are a million things to do: plan the housewarming party, fix the washing machine, buy a shower curtain, etc.
But first, we implore you, go through this four step checklist. Taking a few minutes to establish each of these now will save hours of tea-fueled conversations down the line.
1. Agree on basic values and write them down in a one page document.
You all chose to move into a house together so you probably know each other pretty well. But there can be slightly different expectations for how you treat the property: how often do you want guests? How clean should things be kept, and how much time/money is each person expected to contribute to keeping it clean?
We’re not suggesting you create a giant doc that outlines how you plan to deal with every issue that could arise. In fact the opposite: we suggest keeping it short, and sticking to principles rather than rules in most cases. But we do recommend giving Phil’s excellent post on Group Decision Making a read and agreeing on a few ground rules.
Here’s an example of a one page doc from Gramercy House, and another example from the Archive.
2. Establish a dedicated bank account for the house
Set up a fee-free checking account dedicated to the house. It can be in an individual’s name or a joint account (we go into a LOT more detail on best practices here). You’re probably smarter than me and know this already, but for years I didn’t realize most banks will let you set up as many checking accounts as you like - for free! You could set up different accounts for operating costs, a rainy day fund, food fund, etc.
Keeping money sorted into different buckets separate from any individual’s personal spending is the #1 investment you can make in your accounting sanity from day one.
3. Sign sublease agreements
Perhaps you are all on the lease. But it’s common that you signed the lease with one or two rooms still to be filled, or that someone plans to be out of town for a few months and wants to rent out her room, etc. Or maybe two months in, someone who signed the master lease has to relocate to a distant city because of work or health or family/relationship issues.
Whenever someone new joins your house, have them sign a sublease agreement. I get it, you’re friends, you trust each other! But there is probably a decent amount of money at stake, and sometimes life happens. There is no downside to putting these things in writing, and to make it extra easy for you we have a customizable template lease here.
4. Label everything.
Because you have a bigger and more beautiful property than you had before, and you are sharing it with more humans with more friends, you will have guests in the space. Make it easy for them, and for new housemates, by labeling things. It will help you keep the community clean, and it’s also a great way to bring some personality to your space. You will not regret the $30 you spend on a label maker.
OK, that’s it! We promised it would only take a few minutes.
Please invite us to your housewarming party.
Curious about living with friends, coliving or co-buying? Find more case studies, how tos, and reflections at Supernuclear: a guide to coliving. Sign up to be notified as future articles are published here: