Should you find a subleaser instead of breaking your lease?

I see it time and time again on various rental Q&A sites, in chat rooms and on discussion boards: Tenants are shocked to discover that if they want to move out of their apartments before a lease's natural expiration date, landlords can indeed hold them financially responsible for rent payments through the original lease period.

"Can the landlord really charge me rent if I'm not living there?"

Yes, he can.

If you need to move out of your apartment before your lease is up, one alternative to the expensive dilemma of lease-breaking is subletting, or subleasing. Read about subletting out your apartment, including working with your landlord to find a suitable sublessee and the importance of collecting a security deposit and signing a sublease agreement, in Is Subletting a Good Alternative to Breaking Your Apartment Lease?

In the article is a link to a free sample sublease agreement from the Tenant Resource Center, based in Madison, Wisc.



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Impress the landlord if you want to be approved for the apartment of your dreams

Lots of experienced apartment hunters have, at one time or another, applied for the apartment of their dreams only to find out they were too late -- the apartment was already rented to someone else.

There are a few strategies you can employ to avoid this happening to you, even in a competitive apartment market with low vacancy rates. One strategy is to impress the landlord or leasing agent. But how?

The trick is in appearing as the ideal tenant. But you need to do this in very real, concrete ways. Landlords are bound by ethical guidelines that don't allow them to rent an apartment to one tenant over another simply because one tenant is more likeable. So, really, you need to actually BE an ideal tenant, not just act like one.

For a leg up on the competition, read "Competitive Apartment Hunting: How to Impress the Landlord." It includes credit, application and apartment viewing tips designed to make you stand apart from other apartment hunters.

Happy hunting and good luck out there!




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Apartment amenities: What features are on your apartment shopping list?

Maybe it's a community pool you can't do without; maybe it's a balcony. Can you live without air conditioning? Without a dishwasher?

Savvy apartment hunters make a shopping list of "wants" and "needs" when they start their apartment search. If you want to make sure you haven't forgotten to include something on your own list, or if you're just curious about which amenities are the most sought-after by other apartment hunters, check out the Top 10 Best Apartment Unit Amenities for 2010 and the Top 10 Best Apartment Community Amenities for 2010.

These articles count down today's most important apartment features and apartment community amenities, from covered parking to on-site laundry to green space allotted for dog-walking. They also take a look at what developers of new apartment buildings are including in their site plans in order to attract tomorrow's tenants.

Enjoy!




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In a competitive apartment search, when should you start looking?

When I managed apartments, I was always astounded when someone called about our little 16-unit complex and asked if we had any vacancies because they wanted to move, like, this weekend.

Unfortunately, I was never able to help those apartment seekers because, trust me, if I had a vacant apartment, you can bet that I'd been trying for at least 30 days to fill it -- meaning I probably already had someone lined up and they just hadn't moved in yet.

The lesson to be learned from this is: Start your apartment search early. Read how to conduct your apartment search up to three months in advance of your anticipated move here, at Competitive Apartment Hunting: When to Search for an Apartment.

And don't skip over the part about getting on an apartment building's waiting list!



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