My mom keeps saying I should find someone like a grad student who only needs the room a couple of nights a week; is there really such an animal? It would help me more than you can possibly imagine, especially since my rates will go up a point this fall and no one will refinance me this year. But how do I find someone who can deal with the dawgs and the tight space? Can I?

I think it's unlikely that you'll find someone who only needs the room a couple nights a week. However, it's very possible to find someone who hardly ever spends anytime there. The hard part is that it's not easy to know for sure that'll be the case. As a student, this was me - rented a room in a very small house, was hardly ever there, spent all my time in my room when I was there. They had three dogs which didn't bother me at all (I added a cat to the mix). However, I know they had other "roomers" they had to ask to leave - one, while I was there, had her boyfriend over constantly. Also, if I were you, I'd find some way to seperate the closet into two before renting.

Lael