How to Sublet Your Apartment
Moving is one of the key reasons that apartments are sublet. It's a popular way to get out of a lease without having to pay any additional fees. There are several things you need to do before you sign someone up to rent your place.
You're going to need a list of the selling points for the apartment. Include everything relevant to the apartment; all the good points. Make sure to include all the facts about the apartment in your list.
A general outline of your list should look something like this:
- Roommates
- Sublet location
- Nearby attractions
- Nearby cities & employment areas
- Amount of rent
- Deposit necessary
- Utility costs
- Apartment specs
- Size of bedrooms
- Duration of sublet
Once your list is made, you need to advertise your apartment. The Internet is a great place to do this. There are any number of different websites that allow you to list apartment for sublet, some of them are even free. You can also list in your local paper or thrift paper, as well. You'll need to put all this information in the form of an advertisement. Don't go over the top with it; remember, these people are going to see the apartment, so don't make claims that you or your apartment can't come though on.
Once the ad is posted, you're going to have to start showing the place. The easiest way to do this is to have all the people interested come on a single day, at regular intervals. This gives you plenty of time to clean the place up and make it look presentable, as well as not consuming your time everyday with showings. Have them come on a weekend and spend a set amount of time with each person or couple. Schedule a little buffer time in between people, though, in case someone runs over a little.
Be as truthful as possible while showing the apartment. If there are things wrong, explain it to the people you're showing the apartment to. Not telling people up front can result in a bad experience for both parties and result in you having to find another person to rent the apartment.
Get all your paperwork prepared well ahead of time. You'll need all the legal documents concerning the apartment and you'll want to go ahead and draw up that sublet agreement. That way you can have everything handy to show interested parties. When it comes time to choose someone to rent your apartment, choose one with verifiable references; remember that your name will be the one on the lease, not theirs. Choosing a renter with references will help make the experience much more pleasant.
