Q: I was renting a room in a home but I have since had to move. I have been going through some tough times (anxiety, depression, etc.). The living conditions were unhealthy for me so I am now stuck trying to find someone to sublease my room. I simply can’t afford to pay rent at two homes. Is there any way to break a lease in this type of situation?

Property manager Robert Griswold replies: While it is understandable that your personal issues are serious challenges for you, they are not legal grounds to terminate your lease.

The weather is perfect for an open house. The listing agent greets you at the door and you enter the clean, rambling home, its lofty rooms done tastefully in muted cream with brown accents. Touring upstairs, you remark to a winged white tigress that the bathroom would look better with colored lighting; she touches a panel on the wall to make the change, considers, then agrees.

This isn’t Narnia; it’s Second Life, a virtual world where more than 1.5 million “residents” use computers to control graphic representations of themselves and interact with others as they wander through realistic landscapes that other residents have created.

Q:What is your opinion of weekend open houses to sell homes? I am in the process of renovating a house so I can sell it for a profit. My real estate agent is telling me he doesn’t do open houses. He says he has been selling real estate for 20 years and open houses don’t work. This agent also says other marketing tools such as ads are worthless. He says listing on the local MLS (multiple listing services) and several Web sites with the right price is the best marketing. What do you think?