Most people find out they have different ideas about “clean” about three weeks after the lease starts. By then there’s already a sink full of pans and a group chat that has gone quiet.

Living with other people is mostly easy. It gets hard when nobody said anything out loud at the start. A one-hour conversation before you sign can save you months of low-level annoyance.

Talk about money like adults. Rent is the obvious part, but figure out the rest too: electricity, heating, internet, and who pays for the shared stuff like dish soap and toilet paper. Decide how you’ll pay each other back. A shared note on your phones or a simple split app works fine. What doesn’t work is “I’ll just cover it and we’ll sort it out later,” because later never comes.

Be honest about your schedule. A night owl and an early riser can live together happily, but only if they know about it. Mention when you usually sleep, when you study, and how often you have friends over. If one of you has an 8 a.m. class and the other works evenings, quiet hours matter more than anything else on this list.

Agree on what “clean” means. Nobody’s wrong here, people just grew up differently. Instead of making a rigid rota that falls apart in week two, agree on a few basics. Dishes don’t sit overnight. Whoever cooks wipes the counter. Bathroom gets done weekly, and you swap who does it. Small and specific beats ambitious.

Decide how the shared spaces work. Who gets which shelf in the fridge? Is the living room a quiet study spot or the place everyone hangs out? Can people eat each other’s food, or is that a hard no? These things sound silly until someone’s labelled leftovers go missing.

Know what’s in the lease. Read it together. Check how long it runs, what happens if one person leaves early, and whether everyone is responsible for the full rent or only their share. If anything seems unclear, ask the landlord before signing, not after. Laws about leases vary, so if you’re unsure of your rights, a tenant advocacy group or a legal clinic can answer questions for free or cheap.

Have a plan for disagreements. You will have some. Agree now that you’ll raise problems early and in person, not through passive-aggressive sticky notes. Something like “hey, can we talk about the noise?” is a lot easier to hear on day three than on day sixty.

Choose the place with the group in mind. A house suits people who want more room and a proper common area, but it works best when everyone’s on the same page about how they’ll use it. If you’re still looking and want to see what a shared house built around university life can look like in Montreal, that page gives you a sense of the setup.

Check in after a month. Ask each other what’s working and what’s bugging people. Most small issues are easy to fix if you catch them early.

Good roommates aren’t the ones who never clash. They’re the ones who say things kindly and quickly, and that’s a habit you can start before you’ve even unpacked.