A roommate finder app, service, and websites all come with a host of offerings. But what features make the best roommate finder? To answer that question, it’s important to understand how top features benefit the most important part of the equation. That is you.

Every roommate finder needs to have phone support.

The only thing that stands by your side during your hectic day from the moment you wake up to whenever you finally think about sleep is your phone. Some roommate finders provide it, but it ends up being such a watered-down version of the real deal that it just doesn’t do it for you. A strong phone app benefits you because it:

A roommate finder app needs to be focused on saving your time.

Let’s face it, you can’t afford to bounce between a desktop computer for this and a watered-down phone app for that like an over-caffeinated ping-pong ball. Because whoever made that stupid rule that a day should only have 24 hours has clearly never held two jobs before.

Their goal should be to simplify your search.

Life is so much easier when you can do everything from a single source like a phone app. Your roommate search just went from the bottom of the procrastination list to the top of today’s to-do list.

The importance of lifestyle choices, and house rules!

House rules will let two unique individuals live in blissful harmony, or serve as the basis for a nuclear meltdown in the courtesy department. They are also much more than just convenient search filter settings. They give you insight into who this person is.

Are they a semi-pro-shopaholic? Or is the only plastic in their wallet a library card?

Easily searchable lifestyle choices and house rules help you because:

You gain an instant sense of who this person is.

At a glance, you can pick up on all sorts of personality traits, saving you major headaches after the lease is signed.

You can search faster by filtering “gotta have it” traits and “not happening” factors.

Just checking or unchecking a few boxes saves gobs of time by excluding people you just know you can’t get along with and focusing your search on those who could work out.

Should let you get to know your roommates like you did your friends!

Filters simplify your search life, but you can’t really be sure until you’ve interacted with a potential roommate. You’re about to spend about a year with a total stranger, so investing a week or more to get to know someone before they move in doesn’t seem like a lot to ask. And yet, many roommate finders don’t offer that feature. Or if they do, it’s through clunky email that feels more like blind-throwing messages in a bottle back and forth between trenches than actually growing to understand another person. Secure instant messaging is a key feature in great roommate finder apps.

It benefits you by:

Letting you get to know someone naturally.

Texting back and forth was a fundamental part of how you got to know lots of the friends you have today. A roommate finder app shouldn’t be any different.

Keeps your personal information secure.

Giving your personal email address to a complete stranger is not easy to take back. And yeah, most people are chill, but it’s the smaller community of full-time whackos you have to watch out for. Secure texting lets you get to know somebody without exchanging your personal information so you can get a sense of whether this person is or is not a card-carrying member of crazy land.

Before you dash off to find a roommate finder with all those features, let us make it easy for you. Roomi has all that and more. Not only does it showcase stellar phone app support, time-saving lifestyle choice filters, and secure chat, but it helps you find rooms too just as easily.

What do you look for in a roommate? What is your favorite roommate quality? Post your comments below.

D’you know what else Roomi does outside of helping its readers figure what they need to be looking for in a roommate finder? With our ever-increasing lists of rooms and roommates across the world, we help you find your perfect match! Download the app here and hop on the easiest ride home, ever!