It’s almost July and you found the perfect two-bedroom for July 15th. Except, uh, that’s 2 weeks from now and you need another body ASAP. You don’t need a miracle. You need Roommate Bootcamp — MyFirstApartment style!

First, you need to view our handy Roommate Agreement Check List. What’s that, — you’ve already considered what to do if your roommie can’t pay rent for a month? Yeah. . .thought not!

Speaking of $ issues, be sure to view our Lease Guide which has some gem words of wisdom a la “No one except your landlord can kick out your deadbeat roommate!”

If you’re considering putting a listing on Craigslist for a new roommate(it works too!), check out the sample Craigslist email response I wrote a few months back when trying to find a room within an apartment that already had roommates. It’s not an exact fit for your needs, but gives you the basic idea for what to include in your email!

Moving forward, whether your new roommate is a stranger or not, get ready for growing pains drama. It’s just, well, inevitable. Our bloggers from Houston, Laura and Steve, share some firsthand examples on how they handled pesky disagreements and kept their cool.

Finally, take a deep breath. A year from now, you’ll be living the highlife, shaking your head at all the trouble you had in the summer of ’09 — knowing it was worth it. Don’t believe me? Check out our guest blogger Jeff’s “1 Year Later” post

Tags: craigslist, lease, roommate