The right answer on pet ownership depends on your unique circumstances, but if your community allows pets in your apartment or townhome and you’re thinking about taking the leap, read on for some questions you should consider first!

1. Does my lifestyle support pet ownership?

This is probably the most important question you should ask yourself, so plan on spending some serious time working through the answer. Owning a pet is more than making sure it’s fed on a daily basis. If you’re considering owning a dog, you will need to be home often enough to take it outside to use the bathroom—and you’ll need a place where you can easily walk it. Even a cat requires some maintenance, including regular feeding and litterbox cleaning. If your job requires a lot of travel, who will watch your pet while you’re gone? And if you are always on the go and spend long hours away from home—is that fair to your pet (or to you, since you’ll be the one feeling guilty?)

2. Can I afford a pet?

The most beguiling words in the animal kingdom are “free puppy.” Even if you adopt an animal from the local shelter (which is a wonderful path to take!) you need to be aware that a pet is not a free proposition. In addition to regular (or semi-regular) vet visits, starting with a pet’s initial battery of shots or the procedure to spay/neuter the animal, you’ll be paying for food, treats, toys, medicines and even the occasional reindeer antlers and winter sweaters. No really, you will. So make sure you have enough in your monthly budget to allow for the expense of a pet!

3. Am I a pet person?

This one is harder to answer, especially if you had a pet as a child and remember little more than rolling around in the yard, laughing and having fun. Now, as an adult with some ingrained habits, are you prepared for a cat to pounce onto your bed at 4 a.m. demanding to be fed, or a puppy needing desperately to go outside—even though it’s pouring rain? Pets also can have different personalities. Some are a little standoffish…while others want to be in your personal space all the time! Are you ready to be the pet owner your pet believes you can be?

4. Where will you be in a year—or five?

While it’s difficult to predict the future, owning a pet isn’t a short-term proposition. If you plan on leaving for a year of backpacking Europe within the next several months, this would not be the time to adopt a pet. Conversely, if you’re planning on moving apartments soon, it may be a better decision to wait until you are settled before adding a pet to your life. Animals need time to acclimate to a new environment—especially after being rescued from a shelter—so keep this in mind as you consider when to adopt.

If you’re ready to move forward with adopting a pet (and your apartment community allows it!), then prepare yourself for an adventure that will likely bring you more joy and love than you could ever expect. With the right mindset and a willingness to work through any challenges, pet ownership can be a life-changing experience that you’ll never regret!

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Or, if you’ve already moved in together and are beginning to feel the strain, gather your roommates together ASAP and discuss these five recommendations (and don’t stop until you work out answers to the following questions that you all can support!)

1. Decide who pays for what

In many apartment homes, landlords prefer a single rent check no matter how many tenants occupy a given unit. That means one of your group will have to take charge of collecting rent payments, depositing them into an account, and writing the combined rent check. You can set up a separate checking account for this, or one roommate can choose to be the payer for the apartment through their personal account, but this is a huge decision to work out ahead of time.

You’ll also need to establish how you’ll pay for shared expenses like electricity, gas, cable, and internet. Once again, if all of you will be splitting the costs, then you’ll have to get individual checks to the roommate making payments, in plenty of time for them to pay the bill! To make this process smooth and hassle free, consider setting up due dates and reminders either on your phones or in a central place in the apartment.

2. Identify the House Rules

Sharing space with multiple people can be a wonderful experience, but it can also become very stressful if there is no clear understanding of what’s acceptable behavior and what isn’t. Don’t just assume your roommates understand your preferences! It’s best to lay everything out in writing so that everyone can sign off on an agreement of shared living space. Some areas to include in your House Rules are:

• Kitchen Activities: set rules for things like food prep and clean-up, with a priority that no dirty dishes or open containers of food are left out. Nothing appeals to bugs and rodents more than food they can get to easily!
• Noise: identify designated quiet times for the apartment—including entertainment streamed in your room. Chances are, your roommates can hear it!
• Space: identify how to divide up space in common areas—kitchen cabinets, bathroom areas, closets, etc.
• Chores: list all the chores you want to split evenly, and set up a schedule. Those could include doing dishes after a common meal, vacuuming, dusting, taking out the trash, etc.

3. Establish a Plan for unexpected situations

What happens if one of your friends needs a couch to stay on, or one of your roommates wants to adopt a puppy (and your apartment allows pets), or if one of your roommates decides to move out? You can’t predict everything that will happen, but you can set up a plan to handle it. For instance, you could establish a monthly meeting (maybe when you hand over your rent check to your designated payer) and use that time also to go over anything that needs to be discussed, such as any decision that will affect your living situation.

4. Be prepared to compromise

Living with multiple roommates can be an amazing experience, but you should know going in that you and your roommates are all very different people, with different expectations and preferences. By talking out as much as possible in advance, you can head off a lot of problems and misunderstandings before they begin! But rather than thinking of these conversations as opportunities for you to ensure you get your way all the time, look for ways that you can accommodate others’ preferences. That will often make them far more likely to accommodate your preferences as well.

5. Most important of all: Communicate

Nearly every failed apartment-sharing situation has its roots in faulty communication. Don’t let yours be one of them! Set regular times for you to check in with your roommates (even the shy ones!) and make sure everyone is on board with the house rules as well as unexpected changes. Things WILL happen that will require you all to work together to maintain a happy living situation, so expect it! By keeping the lines of communication open, you and your roommates can handle just about anything.

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