Need advice! Living with a friend & her boyfriend in a 2BR apt in nyc (apartment, rent)

[seikenkeiai]

Hi, so me, my friend (A) and her boyfriend (B) are trying to find a 2BR apartment in NYC starting September.
The couple will stay in one bedroom and I will take the other.
So the common areas, kitchen, living room and one bathroom will have to be shared among the 3 of us.

However, the boyfriend (B) does not have a job and cannot pay rent.
So basically friend (A) and I will be the only ones paying the rent, while the boyfriend freeloads.
If we take a $2400/month apartment, it will be a 50/50 split with $1200 for me and A.

What do you think about this situation?
I am doing this sort of as a favor to the couple because we are close friends,
but this is not a good deal for me, can anybody give me some advice?

I feel bad for the boyfriend (B) who's looking for a job now.
I'm thinking that I will give B about 3 months time to look for a job while
A and I split 50/50. However, after 3 months time is over and B has not found a job, I will demand that we go for a 60/40 split with me paying less than them or something like that?

Another factor to consider is that A is often out on business. She will only be home a couple weeks during the month, especially only weekends if she gets busy.
So I guess A is kinda doing a favor if she splits a decent $2400 in a 50/50 split with me ... it's confusing.

Would love to ask NYC veterans on what to do. Thank you.

[bluedog2]

You shouldn't make any kind of a commitment about the rent split until you see the apartment,the room sizes,windows,closet space ,etc. The rent should probably be apportioned to the number of occupants more than the number of bedrooms to begin with but it would be really egregious if they wind up with the bigger bedroom with the walk in closet and all the light, splitting 1/2 the rent and you wind up paying 1/2 on your own for the tiny br with no closet with no window or a window facing an air shaft.

The idea of someone living in an apartment and contributing nothing sounds like a recipe for resentment.Could be the end of your close friendship.

[seikenkeiai]

Interesting. Thank you bluedog2. Hadn't thought about how the actual apartment structure would be the important factor in figuring out a fair split ...

But is it fair for the Boyfriend to pay 33% if he doesn't even have a room for himself? Is that usually what people do?
For example, if it was a 3BR with 3 people, yeah it would make sense for 33/33/33 split but since it's a 2BR, i think it gets confusing.

Yup .... agreed on the resentment part.

[Henna]

I would advise not doing it at all.

Find other roommates! Get a situation that is set up from the beginning to be fair to you.

[livingsinglenyc]

I wouldn't move in with someone who didn't have money and couldn't afford rent. That being said, I lived with my EX and a roommate once in a 2 bedroom. The rooms were the same regarding space, size, closets, windows, etc. Total rent was $1500. My ex and I paid $900 ($450 each) and the roommate paid $600. We split the bills 3 ways.

[seikenkeiai]

Mmm livingsinglenyc that seems very fair. I've done some more research according to what you said,
and I think I will go for the same 60/40 split where the couple pays 60% and I pay 40% - while splitting bills evenly.

There's really a science involved in it, esp because people don't seem to have a standard-cut way of doing it so this was interesting to study ... The bottom line seems to be, it really depends on each individual's usage of the spaces but to prevent future resentment from one party unfairly paying too much, it is usually a good idea for the "single" person to pay less than 50% and more than 33% so that he/she is not paying more for a space that's taken up by both A + B, and yet not paying so little to ignore the fact that the couple is essentially sharing "one room" only.

[Mr. Chad]

don't do it. I would feel kinda awkward being the third person in the house with the couple....aside from that will he be respectful of the common areas and not leave his clothes and personal effects around?

My advice would be this may lead to more problems than anything. Let the couple figure things out on their own.

[seikenkeiai]

But the thing is, I do want to live with them - they are very good friends.
How would you take into account my friend A's consulting career schedule? She will be away on business and not at home 2-4 days out of the week quite often.

Will it make sense for me to take a 40% cut of the utilities and A + B taking a 60% cut of the utilities?
This is taking into account that I would have gone for a 33/33/34 split in the utilities in any other scenario but since A is often out on business and won't use utilities very often, I am paying slightly more for her.

[ceecee09]

My boyfriend and I live in a two bedroom apartment with a single roommate and have been for almost two years (same roommate), so it can work. In part this works for us because the apartment is a LARGE two bedroom, and the bedrooms are on opposite sides of the apt. (no shared walls). For the record we split the rent three ways (same $$ per person), not half and half. It just worked out that our bedroom is about twice the size of our roommate's, so we all thought that was pretty fair if you figure square footage per person, so keep an eye on the floor plan before you decide anything.

In general though, if you are already having reservations about the situation without even having moved in yet, definitely think it over... and make sure you have a SOLID WRITTEN agreement about who pays how much rent and when and if those conditions might change (like if he gets a JOB or if they break up, etc) before you move in together.

[augiedogie]

This has lots of potential to be very bad for you. Find other roommates for find something small just for yourself.