paying 8 months rent in advance? less rent

annacanna

im hoping to move to sligo for college and will need to rent a house or apartment from start of sept till the end of april (8 months). i am looking for a place for 400 a month.

if i was to offer all the rent in advance (getting a reciept) do you think i could get the rent of say 500 a month down to 400 a month?

ProudDUB

I would say that it would vary from land lord to land lord, depending on their individual financial circumstances and preferences.

Some of them may love the idea of renting to you for 8 months, and then getting the place back for the summer so that they can rent it out to rich holiday makers or use it themselves. They may bite your arm off if you offer to pay in advance, and give you a discount for being their idea of a dream tenant.

However, on the flip side, most landlords prefer to rent for a period of at least a year. If you do not want to commit to that long a lease, that is 4 months out of the year that the place may be sitting empty & they are out rent. Not only may he not be willing to drop the rent due to you paying in advance, he may increase it due to your not wanting to commit to a full year. He will have the trouble and expense of finding new tenants when you leave after a relatively short period of time. That is another reason not to give you a discount.

If you do decide to pay in advance, do something to protect your self by having a break clause added to the lease if possible. It would be terrible to pay your 3,200 euros up front, and then find out that you have the neighbours from hell or the place is an ice box. Good luck getting your money back there !

Victor

What if the place burns down?

What if the neighbours turn out to be party animals / drug users / boy racers?

What if the landlord is bankrupt?

What if you have to leave after a month?

You might get a discount, but you might also get burnt.

El Weirdo

Victor wrote: »

What if the neighbours turn out to be party animals / drug users / boy racers?

Win, tbh.

the_syco

annacanna wrote: »

if i was to offer all the rent in advance (getting a reciept) do you think i could get the rent of say 500 a month down to 400 a month?

You'd be a fool to do so, for the reasons Victor has mentioned, and also because you will have no comeback if something breaks. The landlord knows you won't leave, as you have already paid.

fasttalkerchat

What you could do is after the first month offer to pay say 3 months together for 450 per month. If things are good after that 3 months, do it again...

Worth suggesting to your landlord

annacanna

didnt actually think about what happens if i dont like living there

thanks for all the comments

pawnacide

Like everything else, weigh up the risks. Pay over 3600 (inc deposit) and assume everything is ok for 8 months or pay 500 per month with no risk. I'd follow Victors advice for the reasons he gave and more ... what if you hate ur course and wanna leave ? will have to be a very decent Landlord for him to promptly carry out repairs etc when he already has your money. Not worth it.

liliq

Victor wrote: »

What if the place burns down?

What if the neighbours turn out to be party animals / drug users / boy racers?

What if the landlord is bankrupt?

What if you have to leave after a month?

You might get a discount, but you might also get burnt.

I assume you'd be signing a lease for a certain length of time anyway so either way you'd be stuck there anyway?

djimi

liliq wrote: »

I assume you'd be signing a lease for a certain length of time anyway so either way you'd be stuck there anyway?

Not necessarily. There are circumstances in which you can walk away from a lease early (landlord not fulfilling their obligations for example) and in those cases its often hard enough to get your deposit back, let alone several months prepaid rent.

odds_on

In the UK it is often felt suspicious if a tenant wants to pay so much up front. People who do so sometimes convert the property into a cannabis factory as they know the landlord will not be around for a long time.

It must be said that in the UK, there are no periodic inspections during a tenancy. As it is the tenant's home, s/he may do what they like in the house, have it as dirty or untidy as they wish as long as the house is returned at the end of the lease in the same condition it was at the start of the lease, less any wear and tear.