On an ad for shared housing, why don't people talk about who lives in the house?

Huh, when I was looking into that in the Bay Area, I found lots and lots of postings with people who wrote too much about the daily habits of the residents. “Then there’s Stevie and his size 11 feet. At 8:10 am, you’ll often find him in his green flannel pajamas enjoying a cup of Folgers with two splendas…” Not an exact quote.

I’d think that people who don’t write about the housemates are just looking for someone to pay rent, not be a friend. Pass ‘em up…

I think it would be too easy for someone to fake compatibility in order to get into a living situation, and then turn out to be the housemate from hell.

I think if you really knew about a lot of the roomates out there, you’d get your own place.

Because Craigslist attracts creepy people and if I had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t want to tell the general internet reading public all about her so some stalker comes walking into my home trying to take advantage of her.

It’s too risky. Better to meet someone in person and then start sharing personal details. That’s how I’ve done it. Craiglist also taught me that roommates suck.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Craiglist also taught me that roommates suck.

That could be a plus – depending on the gender.

Non creep Craigies want you to be interested enough to go check the place out, make your own speculations and draw vibe in person. The rest of the creep Craigies don’t want you to know how creepy they really are.

I don’t know… If I were looking for a roommate, I think I would at least specify some attributes we’d like to see in a roommate. Maybe something like: ‘Looking for a liberal, educated, professional individual.” That would say a lot about the type of people already living there.

I found that the better place to find a roommate is through an agency that promises ‘compatibility’. You can actually meet the prospective roommates right there in the office. I would never look on a public site like craigslist or the classified.

Wow. I’m surprised to hear all these negative experiences and associations with Craigslist. I’ve had quite positive experiences. Good to know that this is how a lot of people feel about Craigslist.

@Trustinglife My son advertised on craigslist for a roomer and all they got were scammers who wanted to send a large check to cover the rent, and they would return the difference from their own checking account.

@Trustinglife I’ve had mostly good experiences with it…

When I looked for a short-term place on Craigslist, I expected that I’d be sharing an apartment, so I put enough information in my ad so that people would know what they were getting into. And when I responded to ads, I put in much of the text I had written for my ad. The place I wound up renting was from a woman who contacted me based on my ad, and it wound up being a very good situation indeed.

And there are nutjobs on Craigslist like there are nutjobs everywhere. The goal is not to be disappointed when you encounter them, but to filter them out as quickly as possible.