Random question, say I'm unemployed and would like to get an apartment. Would most places turn me down? If I was able to pay for the entire lease up front, would it make a difference? Would it potentially lower the monthly rent if I paid in a lump sum.

Thanks

9/7/2010 11:07:46 AM

most apartment complexes ostensibly require a monthly income of X times the rent. not all complexes verify though, and i'm not sure how they'd handle paying everything up front

9/7/2010 11:47:11 AM

My buddy got his apartment simply by showing his bank account. He currently did not have a source of income (other than poker) and they let him sign a lease. I would think that they could not care less what your status is if you paid in full and it would definitely give you leverage in negotiating.

9/7/2010 11:50:38 AM

Mine requires 3x the rent in income or proof 6 months' worth of rent in savings, I believe.

9/7/2010 11:55:10 AM

Quote :

"Mine requires 3x the rent in income or proof 6 months' worth of rent in savings, I believe."

That's pretty ridiculous unless your rent is really low.

9/7/2010 2:35:21 PM

The income part or the savings part? I don't see a problem with either of those. I wouldn't really want to rent to someone who didn't have a job or money in savings either.

And obviously they would let a parent co-sign if you are a student or something. It's when you don't want/have a co-signer that applies.

9/7/2010 2:42:57 PM

Quote :

"Would it potentially lower the monthly rent if I paid in a lump sum."

I've heard of this before, but didn't have any luck at the one place I tried this.

9/7/2010 3:02:30 PM

^^ sorry, I misread that as BOTH x income and x savings. it's not so bad now!

9/7/2010 7:23:14 PM

Depends on the place. One I looked at I said I'd pay for 6 months upfront if and they still wanted a cosigner. This was Sumter square, so don't waste your time looking at them.

9/7/2010 8:00:41 PM

Complexes outside of the typical college area don't usually allow for co-signers, unless you can find a unit not owned by a company. I've had trouble with that since I am a student living in North Raleigh. I had to have a parent actually sign the lease as a roommate. It hasn't been a problem so far but it's a pain in the ass when any paperwork needs to be signed.

9/7/2010 10:39:45 PM

As others have said, it depends on the place. The couple of apartments I have lived in, would not take more than 2 months of rent in advance. So when I came into some money a few years back, and they wouldn't take more than 2 months worth, I was forced to blow the rest

I've also never had an apartment complex confirm my job status/income situation either, so you could just lie and say you work for X company making at least 3x rent/month and see what happens

9/7/2010 11:38:36 PM

Yeah but that would be immediate grounds for eviction if they ever needed a reason in the future. Same for lying about anything else on the application that is typically not checked after collecting the fee.

9/8/2010 1:53:07 AM

Quote :

"I've also never had an apartment complex confirm my job status/income situation either"

Every place I've rented in Raleigh has checked my job status and income (by showing paystubs) and background. Fortunately for me, some jackass that lives in Durham and has the same name as me got into trouble a few years back with an assault conviction. I always have to prove that it wasn't me.

[Edited on September 8, 2010 at 6:31 AM. Reason : retardo]

9/8/2010 6:29:06 AM

I live in an apartment off of Avent Ferry and they never needed to see a paystub or asked about my income level or anything.

9/8/2010 8:57:35 PM

Place I live I doubt they actually did any sort of check considering for all intents and purposes I'm unemployed right now.

9/9/2010 10:59:17 AM

Quote :

" That's pretty ridiculous unless your rent is really low. "

I don't see why this is so rediculous. If you are paying >33% of your paycheck to housing than you have problems.

9/9/2010 1:55:51 PM

^

Quote :

"sorry, I misread that as BOTH x income and x savings. it's not so bad now!"

9/9/2010 2:13:06 PM

Quote :

"since I am a student living in North Raleigh"

Why on earth would someone move TO North Raleigh.

9/10/2010 7:02:15 AM

Everywhere that i went that wanted 3-4x the monthly income would take 3-6 months of rent and completely waive the income requirement.

9/11/2010 6:40:42 AM

I had to show proof of income for my apartment, but my offer letter sufficed for that. The requirement was 3x rent (personally, I'd require 4x at the least)

9/11/2010 1:57:08 PM

^^^I like it a lot! It's in between my friends and my work, and I get a lot more school work done than I would if I still lived over near NCSU.

9/12/2010 7:24:07 PM