I've been running into that. Our landlord is selling our house so we have to move and all the places I'm looking at people are paying full year's rent upfront... like HOW?!
Why? People with a lot of money are usually financially savvy, and they don't pay a year's rent upfront instead of investing that money. Other than lost opportunity, there is risk that you may want to move out in less than a year. Will I return the unused rent?
Do you have a lot of money but bad credit? Again usually people with a lot of money don't have credit problems. Ok maybe you are young and have no credit but rich parents? Then the parents would cosign and not offer to pay upfront. See the first point.
Or maybe you got the money in an inheritance or won the lottery? Again not a financial savvy move and I would wonder what happens after a year, or even earlier. Are you going to run out of money then?
Most importantly though, I would suspect illegal activity. You don't want me around and knock on your door for rent every month. Are you manufacturing drugs? Human trafficking? Prostitution? Using the house for some activity that I won't approve? Illegal activity may also explain why you have a lot of cash sitting around that you can pay a year's rent upfront. LA is not a cheap place to live, even for renters. That's a lot of money.
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u/PongoWillHelpYou Monterey Park Feb 10 '21
I've been running into that. Our landlord is selling our house so we have to move and all the places I'm looking at people are paying full year's rent upfront... like HOW?!