As spring term wraps up the school year, leases don’t end with it. Most students have signed a yearlong lease that binds them into paying rent, which sucks for students who want to go home for the summer or study abroad. A solution to get out of a lease is to sublease your place. If you’re looking for housing, subleasing offers a place to rent.
Online Resources:
A private off-campus housing service:
www.offcampushousing.uoregon.edu
(https://offcampushousing.uoregon.edu/)
Facebook group that only UO students can see postings:
Housing UO
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/360280767342224/)
Public Facebook group to find housing:
University of Oregon (UOFO) Housing, Sublets & Roommates
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/859541347458884/)
Releasing your space:
Start by advertising your room with a post.
You’ll have to find someone that wants to take over your lease. The University of Oregon has resources for students to access forums for advertising and searching for rooms that are being subleased.
Take in consideration the content of your post.
Include pictures of your space that are clear and give a realistic view of the room. Take a few minutes to clean up before taking pictures to make your advertisement attractive – the goal is to sell your space.
Write in all the extra details
Include monthly rent and an estimated price of utilities in the post. Adding extra details like amenities, available parking and the number of roommates helps to market your space. Include the dates for when your room will be available and when the lease ends.
Keep up communication
Someone who is interested in your space will reach out to you through email or messaging. Promptly respond and be prepared to be transparent. Someone with a real interest will want more information about your space.
After finding someone who wants to sublease your room
Take the necessary steps to hand over the lease.The process of handing over a lease depends on your property management. Contact your landlord or leasing office to figure it out. Legally handing over the lease protects you. If the subleaser doesn’t take over the lease the original tenant is still responsible for the property. Subleasers signing the lease eliminates risk because the space will be their responsibility, not yours.
Tips:
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When describing the location, avoid advertising your full address. instead use the name of the apartment building, landmarks or include the distance from campus to give a general idea of location.
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Increase your chances of finding someone by responding to other postings. On Facebook’s UO Housing feed people post their need for a place and what they are looking. Comment below the posts your interest or message them with an offer.
Looking for a place to sublease:
Post what you are looking for on the Facebook housing pages.
The post should include your desired price range and dates of when you want to move in and out. Keep the post simple with all necessary details.
Reach out to people.
Efficiently message multiple people about their offers by copy and pasting a generic message about interest, for example you could write, “Hey, I saw the post about subletting your room and I’m interested in find out more information.”
Keep track of potential offers by who replies to your message. Using a professional tone when communicating with tenants will show that your serious about subletting.
Meet in person
Request to tour the space and meet the tenant before agreeing to sublease. Get a feel for the space to know if it’s right for you.
Tips:
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Constantly looking is necessary to finding the perfect place,search every day and a couple times a day. Finding a place to live is competitive.
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Take advantage of the fact that tenants are desperate to get out of their lease. Negotiate rent prices by asking them to pay a portion of the rent. Subleasers are doing the original tenant a favor by taking over their lease.
