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Paying rent in bulk?

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 12:44 am
by spiritess
If I was signing up for a 6 month lease, would any landlords accept all 6 months rent up front in exchange for a discount? For example, all 6 months up front and I get one month free. Are there any dangers I would need to be worried about in this arrangement?

Re: Paying rent in bulk?

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 1:52 am
by Seppia
I’ve successfully done this in the past, but it carries some risk.

If you don’t know the place/owner you may get a discount but then if there’s any issue you’re out the money, so you’re the weak party.

If you know the place/owner and you’ve been paying on time all the time then he/she has no incentive to give you any discount (as he/she knows you’re a good payer).

A Machiavellian tactic could be to go in, pay late a few times and then offer to pay in bulk in advance in exchange for a discount. Probably effective but fairly immoral in my opinion.

Re: Paying rent in bulk?

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 2:20 am
by C40
I did this once and it worked out very well. I would only recommend this when the property is in good condition and the landlord seems good.

For me, the numbers were similar to your example. I paid 6 months in advance. I forget the exact discount but I think it was around 15%. He was happily surprised by my ability to pre-pay the rent. Turned out to be a great landlord.

The dangers are that you get really shitty and short-sighted landlord, and then when something goes wrong with the property, they don't fix it. Or, perhaps, if they sell the property, they don't properly include in the sale that you will be living there until X date with rent already paid.

Re: Paying rent in bulk?

Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 4:23 am
by ertyu
Thirding what was said. I did it once, but it does mean the landlord might be less likely to be agreeable should repairs need to be done later down the line. It worked in my case, but it's a trade-off.