We’ve all been there before… Your apartment is on the market and your phone is ringing constantly with brokers calling to show your apartment. So why hasn’t it rented? In some cases, it’s just not the right place for the person, but in other cases, the apartment appears less than desirable. So if you want to end the constant calls, knocks at your door and strangers in your apartment, here are a few simple steps that will make your apartment more desirable to apartment hunters.

1) Make your apartment available to be seen at convenient times. An apartment that can only be shown M-F 9-5 is going to take longer to rent than one with a flexible showing schedule. Most people work ‘regular’ business hours and apartment shop evenings and weekends. Allowing showings in the evenings and on weekends will help assure a faster rental. Remember your experience as an apartment hunter, were you fortunate enough to be able to take off a few hours from work or did you have to go after work and on the weekends?

2) Clean your apartment – This may seem like an obvious suggestion, but you’d be surprised at how many apartments we see that are not clean. Wash the dishes in the sink, pick the clothes up off the floor, vacuum or sweep your floors and clean the bathroom sink, shower and toilet. I once went into an apartment with a year’s worth of shaving remains in the sink – gross! Not everyone has the vision to see past a messy apartment. Do yourself a favor and spend a little time cleaning.

3) Make your bed – A well-made bed does a lot for a bedroom or studio. It makes the whole apartment appear cleaner and makes a room look larger.

4) Fresh Air – Opening windows a little bit or getting a nice air-freshener to make your apartment smell fresh is huge! No one wants to rent an apartment that smells like feet, garbage, smoke, stale beer or cooking smells – unless, of course, you’re talking about the smell of home-baked cookies!

5) Open the blinds/Make the place bright – Most prospective tenants appreciate an apartment with abundant natural light. If your apartment is naturally dark or shady, replace low output or burnt-out light bulbs with new brighter bulbs, so when we turn lights on, the place shines.

6) If you’re a little handy, fix things – Is a cabinet loose or door falling off the track? Has the towel bar has come loose? Give your landlord a call and let them know what needs work. Ask them to do a quick fix if you don’t have time or the tools to do it yourself. Again, the more an apartment appears to be taken care of, the faster it will rent.

Think about the things that would make you want to rent an apartment and apply those to your place. I hope this help and if you think of more ideas, please leave your comments!