Open House

I've made the decision to move into another apartment earlier than when my current lease is up. There are a number of reasons for moving, but I happened to come across this condo with everything I wanted so I couldn't pass it up. Unfortunately, it's a little smaller than I would like, but I'm determined to make it work. More on that later. Anyways, I'm in a subleasing situation and need to find someone to move into my apartment a month and a half before my lease is up. The management company that owns my apartment building arranged some showings of my unit today so I'm having people in and out all day. By gauging their reactions to the unit, I've come up with a few tips for a successful showing.

1. CLEAN UP. This seems like the obvious step, but you'd be surprised. People have a hard time imagining themselves living in a space if it is a mess. Put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher, put your clothes away and make your bed. If I even see a posting on Craigslist for an apartment and the bed is unmade, it immediately turns me off of the place. Move your dirty laundry somewhere where it's out of sight - no one wants to see your dirty underwear. It also wouldn't kill you to vacuum and use a Lysol wipe on your counters.

2. Open the windows and turn on some lamps. This immediately makes the space feel bright, cheery and bigger.

3. De-clutter. If you have a bunch of crap on your nightstand or sink area, stash some of it away in a drawer. Put some of your smaller appliances up in a cabinet to make it look like you have more counter space.

4. Take the trash out. There's nothing worse than walking into a stinky apartment.

5. Light a candle. Something fresh and not overwhelming.

Then sit back and enjoy all of the compliments you'll get! It really does make a difference to your perspective of an apartment when you see a bright, clean apartment compared to a messy one. Even the leasing agents said they'd rather bring people to my apartment than one of the other units of the same size and floorplan because it shows so well. I'll take that compliment any day, especially if it gets someone to sublease!