Subletting Your Apartment for the Summer

As the college term quickly comes to an end, many students choose to return home for the summer. This is a commonly made decision since many students are attending schools away from their hometown.

But before you can pack up and leave for the summer, what on earth do you with your apartment?

Subletting your apartment is very common especially with students looking to save money on rent since their apartment will be empty for the summer. This can be a very daunting task since there are many factors to be aware of when you are finally ready to sublet your apartment.

Here are a few tips for subletting your apartment:

Verify the Subletting Policies With Your Property Management

Find your leasing contract (if you have one, of course) and look for the policies on subletting. If there is nothing in your contract stating that subletting is allowed, then you will want to check with your property management or landlord. It is a good idea to verify with them directly even if subletting is allowed in your contract. This will help iron out any questions you may have. It is also a smart idea to be on good terms with your landlord since they are ultimately the deciding factor.

Get a Head Start

If you plan on subletting your apartment, it is a beneficial idea to start planning right when you reach your decision. Start organizing a plan 2-3 months from when you want to sublet your apartment. It usually takes a month to find a tenant, and then another few weeks to handle all the paperwork. Earlier is always better of course, so the sooner you know what your situation is the smoother the process will be.

Advertising

There are many different avenues you can choose from when you decide to spread the word out about subletting your apartment. The first source that comes to mind is www.craigslist.org. This is a free, easy-to-use site where you can post a quick description of your place as well as the monthly cost you are asking for. They even have a listing dedicated specifically for sublets/temporary housing. If you are the old-school type, the classifieds in the newspaper can be useful for those people who still receive the newspaper on a daily basis. College campuses are also great places for advertising. Bulletin boards are usually spread out all over the campus grounds for students to quickly post. Students are always passing by these boards so make sure your flyer is eye catching and readable. Along with physical bulletin boards, colleges are now utilizing technology and some offer a classifieds section within the school’s main website. These are definitely a few great places to start advertising your place.

Social Media

Technology is here to stay so why not take advantage of it? Everyone, including your mom, has a Facebook account so this would be a smart place to start. Start with a simple post about how you are looking to sublet your place and if anyone has friends who are looking for a temporary place to stay. After, follow up with either liking your post, commenting on it, or even tagging people on that post to keep it relevant and at the top of everyone’s news feed. Twitter is another great marketing tool in this case because you can easily send out a tweet to all your followers and you can hash tag subjects like “subletting, housing, apartment, temporary housing” etc. These sites are not the only places to list your apartment, but they are definitely a great place to begin when it comes to social media.

Following these tips will certainly increase your chances at finding that perfect tenant. Before you know it, you’ll be back in your hometown with extra money to spend throughout the summer!