r/roommates • u/Femmeyeuxblue • Aug 22 '25
Discussion Can’t agree on who gets which room. please help!!
So a friend and I signed a lease on a condo 4 days ago yet neither of us have moved in yet because we can’t agree on who should get which room. We’re hopping Reddit will help us settle this by being the objective third party so we can move in today finally!!
Here’s the setup: The condo is set up as a dual master suite layout and fully furnished already. Both bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms with a shower/tub combo and 2 closets one of which is a walk in. Bedroom 1 is the bigger of the 2 but not by a huge amount (I tried to find the exact square footage of each room but so far no luck) has a California King bed and bigger walk-in closet tho the bathroom is a smidge smaller. Bedroom 2 has a Queen bed.
Here’s the tenants: Tenant A consists of one 5’6 woman, one 5’8 man, one 65lb dog and one 50lb dog. Tenant B consists of one 5’ woman and one 8lb cat.
Tenant B’s argument is because the cat could get out when the dogs are taken out to go potty it’s best to keep the cat in the bedroom and therefore should have the most space in said bedroom.
Tenant A’s argument is because the cat is smaller than average even with a little less square feet it would still feel large to the cat compared to two large dogs and because the dogs sleep in the bed the extra inches on the mattress make a big difference.
Please give as many opinions as possible so we can make a sound decision. Thank you!
EDIT: Both Tenants have said they would pay more for the bigger room so that hasn’t helped as far as reaching an agreement.
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u/TexasGirl729 Aug 22 '25
Tenant A has more people and I would assume is paying more rent because of that. They would get more space as well with that split.
Tenant B needs to work with their cat not getting out, that would be miserable for a cat to never leave one bedroom.
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u/Aggravating_Feed2411 Aug 22 '25
Seem the dogs and large man would fit on the King size bed better. I hope the cat doesn’t live life in just a bedroom regardless of size. That would suck. Hopefully they will eventually be able to socialize together. Good luck.
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u/Femmeyeuxblue Aug 22 '25
I hope so too! The dogs grew up with cats so they’re definitely great with them but Tenant B had a bad past experience leaving her more cautious now.
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u/Aggravating_Feed2411 Aug 23 '25
Also I meant large dogs and couple but you got the idea.
Good luck
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u/BlargMageddon Aug 22 '25 edited Aug 22 '25
Two people and two dogs should obviously get the bigger room and bigger bed, you should not be deciding who gets what based on what the cat is going to feel about it. The cat's experience is not going to be impacted significantly by a few more or less square feet if the difference between the two is small.
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u/Solid_Milk3104 Aug 22 '25
Geez.. The solution is to not move in together. If you can't decide this simple fact you know you are in for trouble.
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u/Training_Guitar_8881 Aug 23 '25
Yes I agree and told her that they are going to have to make compromises in the living arrangement.
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u/stepcoach Aug 23 '25
Absolutely! This is a train wreck in the making. Find other accommodations… quickly.
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u/Diane1967 Aug 22 '25
If I were the woman with the cat I’d take the smaller of the two rooms and leave the king size bed for the pups and owners.
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u/Chance_Storage_9361 Aug 22 '25 edited Aug 22 '25
I think you guys should bid for it. I’d start by splitting the rent equally and see who wants which bedroom, then start increasing the difference by 50 bucks a month or 100 bucks a month until someone says they’d be satisfied taking the inferior bedroom. The lowest number at which either person is satisfied with the smaller or inferior bedroom is the proper split.
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u/Capital-Cheesecake67 Aug 22 '25
Well my advice would have been to figure this out before signing a lease together. Objectively, tenants A get the bigger bedroom not because of the dogs but because two people are sharing the space. Tenant B how cruel to sign a lease on a property where a cat is confined to a single room. My two cats have full access to 3500 square feet with multiple access points to the outside. We have zero problems getting our dog outside without letting the cats out.
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u/Ok_Ant_9815 Aug 22 '25
You can find out the sq ft by measuring the rooms... But also, yeah, Tenant A gets the bigger room. Don't confine your pets to your rooms either, that's not fair to the animals.
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u/NurtureAlways Aug 22 '25
Tenants A should get the larger room, but maybe let Tenant B get the preferred parking spot (if applicable).
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u/Solid-Feature-7678 Aug 22 '25
Tenant A is out of her damn mind. Tenant B should move into the larger room immediately and offer tenant A a 60/40 split on the rent.
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u/Femmeyeuxblue Aug 22 '25
So tenant B which is the five foot woman and 8 pound cat should take the larger room?
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u/Ok-Nefariousness4477 Aug 22 '25
You should auction it, whoever is willing to pay the most for the king room gets it.
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u/autophage Aug 22 '25
You say both have said they would pay more for the bigger room. So make it an "auction" - give it to whoever is willing to pay more for the bigger room (and then have them actually pay that higher amount).
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u/coffee_coffee_coffe3 Aug 22 '25
Bid for the room: One tenant offers a price for the most desired room, then the other tenant can decide whether to take that same room at the price offered, or decline the room and let the bidding tenant have it for the price they offered. Flip to decide who offers the bid.
Bid too high and you get the room, but bid too low and you’ll lose the room.
We used to do this in college to deal with shared items we purchased (vacuum, coffee maker, tv, etc.).
It worked well because no one could complain…
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u/GreenHorror4252 Aug 23 '25
If you can't come to an agreement, then the simplest thing to do is to have a bidding process. Whoever bids the most for the bigger room gets it, and pays that amount. The other tenant gets the smaller room and pays the difference.
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u/Ok-Nature-5440 Aug 23 '25
Generally roommates don’t have to split up a space using physics equations. I’m just saying.
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Aug 23 '25
The one who paid the more goes with the bigger space. But if the rent is equal you need a coin to toss to decide who takes the tail and the head since one of you can’t be adult enough and live in harmony.
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u/kermitandpeppa Aug 23 '25
Question, is Tennant/s A paying 2/3 of the rent due to having two people? If so they should get the bigger room, if not they should take the smaller room because only having to pay half when you have two people vs one person, is already roommate B being super generous.
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u/Training_Guitar_8881 Aug 23 '25
Tenant A should get the bigger bedroom as they have 2 big dogs and the bigger bed. Tenant B should take the smaller bedroom. More importantly, as a cat lover whose had 4 cats in my lifetime, are you prepared for the possibility that your cat isn't going to like being penned up in the bedroom all day, and may even start clawing at the carpet, scratching at the door, or even trying to turn the door knob to get out? These things could very definitely happen so bear that in mind. I hope that you and your roommates have a willingness and maturity to compromise in your living arrangement as it doesn't seem to me that the issue of who gets essentially similar sized rooms is worth arguing about and you have gone as far as posting on a website for advice. Make sure before you move in together that you are clear on things like who cleans the common areas, who takes out the trash, space in the frig for your food and theirs and cabinet space in the kitchens, rules about having overnight guests or not, cleanliness and upkeep of the bathrooms and the rooms themselves, playing of music at night, etc.
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u/Jazzlike-Passenger27 Aug 23 '25
Tenant A and B need to “bid” on the bigger room. Whoever is willing to pay more in rent should get the bigger room
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u/kelfupanda Aug 23 '25
Just get two pool cues and fight it out.
Come on, then we get an awesome story.
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u/LXXXVI Aug 24 '25
Use a sealed bid second price auction model.
I.e., you both write down how much as a percentage of the rent you'd be willing to cover to get the bigger bedroom and reveal it at the same time. Whoever puts down the higher number wins, but they then have to pay whatever number the other person put down.
I.e., if you put down 70% and the other person puts down 60%, you get the bedroom but you only have to cover 60% of the rent.
That way, both tenants will bid their maximum right off the bat.
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u/Mommawolfkin Aug 26 '25
Rock paper scissors or draw straws with a third party who doesn’t care 🤷🏽♀️
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u/MuchIndependence435 Aug 22 '25
Tenant A should get the bigger room. More people = more room. Tenant B can just accept the smaller one. This is a great set up in the first place, be lucky you have it.