Tips on How to Sublease Your Apartment

By Sierra Schuette
Blog Content Contributer

*KTSW consists of and respects varying opinions within its staff. Opinion articles do not reflect the opinion of KTSW as a whole.

Sometimes we get really excited about a great deal at a cool apartment complex with your last roommate. Then, everything changes after you have signed your money away and you are stuck with an apartment you do not want. Whether it be you found a new roommate, you realized you can not afford it, or it is summer time and you do not want to pay for an apartment you will not be in for two months, you have to find someone to sublease. This process sucks. It is not fun at all. Trust me, I have been there and done that. The first piece of advice I want to give you is to wait as long as possible to sign a lease somewhere, you never know what can happen in the amount of time between when you signed and when you move in. However, if you made the mistake so many have before, here are some tips to get you going.

First, tell the apartment complex you are looking to sublease your apartment. Some apartments charge a sublease fee, some help you find someone to take the sublease, and some may let you pay outright to break your lease. They likely will charge you a fee and you will be very upset.
Post on every social media you have that you are looking for someone to take your apartment. Be very detailed in your description and make sure you give a way for people to contact you. Also, Facebook and Twitter have pages and accounts that allow you to post your information free of charge. Yik Yak can also be helpful in your endeavor, just make sure not to give out an email, phone number, or your name or your post will be deleted. Instead, create a Kik messenger account and use that to contact those who are interested, or give them your twitter name. Prepare for hatred among fellow Yik Yakers, but this proved to be a very helpful technique for me.
Use websites like Craigslist and College Student Apartments to post your sublease where people are actually searching for an apartment. College Student Apartments was the winner for me, although you have to be careful with scammers, this is how I found someone to sublease my apartment. Scammers are easy to recognize on Craigslist and College Student Apartments, they lack basic grammar and spelling skills, ask for personal information like an address, tell you they want to send you money, or say that they are out of town. Never give out your address; there is no reason they need it. Ask people to meet you at the apartment offices.
Contact apartment locating offices. Sometimes these companies will list your sublease for free or they will ask you to only pay if they find someone to take your lease. This did not work for me, but it seems to have worked for other people before.
Offer an incentive. This is probably the best tip I have. There are so many people out there trying to get people to sign their sublease, make yourself stand out. If you can afford it, offer cash. Cash is the best to offer because they can use it however they would like, on rent, utilities, their pet deposit, or even a shopping trip.
The last tip i have is to be consistent and do not give up. The more you post your sublease, the more people see it, the more likely it will get picked up. Do not give up when potential signers bail or scammers try to hook you, there really are people out there looking for exactly what you are offering.

I hope these tips help you get out of your lame apartment! May the odds be ever in your favor.