Locating a rental can be hard especially in a tough rental market. Depending on your residential area and the type of property you’re seeking, getting a rental approval can be difficult. After all, there’s stiff competition and other prospective renters are after the same unit.
Nevertheless, there are ways you could impress the landlord so your application can stand out and possibly secure the unit. One of the effective techniques of securing a rental in a difficult market is offering to pay more rent. Here’s a list of benefits of applying this strategy.
Speed Application
Offering to pay more rent will increase the likelihood that a prospective landlord will accept your application. Moreover, it could decrease the time it takes for the landlord to process your application in the event that the property owner decides not to run a credit check because of the offer.
If this is so, you’ll still need to offer references from former landlords to demonstrate your good conduct as a renter.
Secure a Rental
If you’re vying for a certain rental and you think the competition is stiff, you might offer more payment to seal the deal. Alternatively, the proprietor might encourage this approach. This could be a good idea if the unit is an excellent place for you at the appropriate price.
Nevertheless, you want to exercise caution if you choose this approach. To begin with, you must watch for fraud. At times, fraudsters try to rent a unit they don’t own. It might occur online or you might meet them in person at the property.
They might pretend to be the landlord and even take your security deposit. Moreover, they could force you into offering upfront rent to secure the rental. Unfortunately, if they’re scammers, you’ll never see your money again.
To protect yourself, ensure you research the property, the landlord, and talk to a real estate agent regarding any concerns. If possible, meet the property owner at his or her office, don’t wire money, and if the deal seems too good, be wary.
Even if the property owner is reputable, if he or she seeks additional rent upfront, try to confirm that they aren’t going into foreclosure. Nevertheless, if they lose the property, you’re protected under numerous laws if you have paid the rent.
Credit
Paying more rent could help conquer any concerns a prospective property owner has concerning your credit. Numerous property owners will be cautious if you’ve had issues with rental payments in the past.
However, paying more will make your credit-worthiness mostly irrelevant. This approach could also be a good idea if you can’t prove your revenue or if you’ve just returned to the nation without work.
Security
It might be possible to negotiate a decrease in the security deposit you’re asked to pay upon moving into a rental if you can pay more. While the security deposit is for covering any damage you cause to the rental, it also functions as insurance that you’ll meet your rental payments.
That’s why security deposits are usually more than a month’s rent. If there’s no likelihood of you falling behind rental payments, the landlord might be ready to decrease your deposit.
Final Thoughts
If you’re thinking of paying more rent upfront in order to secure a rental, ensure you know what you’re getting into.
For more information on the benefits of offering to pay more rent, contact us at Apartment Agents or leave a message.