The coliving tour checklist: what to actually look at

Look at the shared kitchen before you look at the room

In a building where no room has a stove, the communal kitchen is not an amenity — it is where you will eat. Go there first, and go at a useful hour rather than mid-morning when it is empty.

What you are checking is not cleanliness on the day. It is whether the room has enough of everything for the number of people using it: hobs, counter space, fridge room, somewhere to leave a pan to dry. A kitchen that works at 3pm and fails at 7pm is a kitchen that fails.

Ask what the operator does, not what the building has

Every coliving listing has a lounge and a laundry room. The difference between operators is who maintains them and how often. At Seton Residence housekeeping is weekly and covers the shared areas as well as the rooms, which is the mechanism that keeps a kitchen used by sixty-one people usable in month six.

Good questions, in rough order of how much they tell you:

• Who cleans the shared kitchen, and how often?
• What happens when something breaks — who do I contact, and what is the usual turnaround?
• Is there anyone on site, and at what hours?
• How many residents share the bathroom on my floor, if it is shared?
• What is the actual noise situation on this side of the building?

The three things people notice in month four

These rarely come up on a tour and almost always come up later.

**Light.** A room seen at 2pm on a clear day tells you nothing about January at 4pm. Ask which way the window faces and what is across from it.

**Sound.** East 40th between Lexington and Third is residential on both sides, which is unusual this close to 42nd Street and is the single biggest difference between this block and the one two streets north. Still worth standing in the room with the door shut for a minute.

**Storage.** A wardrobe and a desk is the furniture list. Over nine months, where the suitcase lives matters more than it sounds.

Check the rate covers what you think it covers

The weekly rate here includes electricity, gas, heat, water, sewer, trash, air conditioning, Wi-Fi and weekly housekeeping. There is no second bill and no utility account in your name.

On any tour, ask for that list by item rather than accepting the phrase. The gap between operators is usually internet, air conditioning in summer, or a usage cap that only appears in July.

• Deluxe Room — $525 a week, shared bathroom
• Studio Basic — $650 a week, en-suite, private entrance off the hallway
• King Studio — $745 a week, en-suite, the largest room, shareable as a twin

And be honest about the commitment

The minimum stay here is nine months. That is close to an academic year and it is a real commitment — the kind where the shared kitchen either works for you or quietly wears you down.

Which is the argument for a slower tour. Ten extra minutes now is cheap against a nine-month answer.