<p>Because of her work, Happykid splits her time between the family home (3 br 2 ½ ba townhouse) in the DC suburbs, and a shared apartment more than an hour away. This plan worked really well until Happydad got the new job that moved the two of us more than a thousand miles away. We’d like to help Happykid find a housemate (or two) so that the place isn’t empty when she’s not in town, and to help with the cost of maintaining the MD house. </p>
<p>Is Craig’s List the way to go?</p>
<p>Good stories?</p>
<p>Bad stories?</p>
<p>Any Montgomery County, MD experts out there?</p>
<p>I know my S1 always used Craigslist when looking for a place to live or looking for a new roommate, in both DC and Boston. Of course you interview each other – preferably on more than one occasion – and get references. </p>
<p>In this day and age, with six degrees of separation, often you’ll find you know people in common.</p>
<p>Look in the housing wanted first on CL. That way it is easier to vet possible roommates, far easier than after meeting, having to find a polite way to say, never would I live with you. </p>
<p>My daughter found two good apartments through CL. She was a substitute teacher, and each landlord gave her a school year lease rather than a 12 month one, so no complaints from us.</p>
<p>Craigslist or roommates.com. On the latter, you can enter fields indicating you have a room to rent out and can see pictures of people looking in your area, their age, all kinds of details</p>
<p>I think I would start with friends, and friends of friends. Or perhaps folks from her school or jobs. Maybe there are folks she sort of knows who are looking for lodging. </p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion of looking at the list of people who are trying to find a place. Will check that out.</p>
<p>We thought we had someone for the fall, but that appears to have fallen through. I’ll be back there next week sorting out the stuff to move/not move and will have more time to devote to this.</p>