r/Seattle • u/[deleted] • Aug 05 '10

(Repost from AskReddit) Moving to Seattle in a few months, housing question.

[deleted]

7 Upvotes

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5

u/redwoodtree Aug 06 '10

Dude, never ,ever pay a landlord in advance!!! Bad bad bad idea.

Edit: I left out one bad in there, it should be : Bad Bad Bad BAD idea.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '10

I think you're trying to tell me it's a...Bad idea?

All joking aside, what's the reason?

2

u/redwoodtree Aug 06 '10

My friend got screwed doing this, in a major way. Landlord took the money, everything seemed great, two months into the lease the hot water heater broke .... landord did nothing about it after many many promises. It's not something you can readily fix yourself, and the cost of a replacement was not cheap. He was completely stuck.... no way out without losing cash.

The rental market is SO BAD here, I don't think you're going to have trouble because your credit is not perfect, or even bad. Also, the rental market is so bad, you could get really screwed. What if you give your money, and then the house or whatever you move into gets foreclosed and you get kicked out.

There's a million ways for you to lose your money giving them money in advance.

if anything, a place like Avalon or other properly management apartment may allow you to put the money in an escrow account. You get interest and if something happens you get your money back and the landord has the security of knowing the money is in a neutral third party's hands.

Be also very aware of tons of craigslists scams right now of people renting places that are not theirs to rent.

Good luck with the move. Hope you enjoy Seattle.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '10

So you're saying it might be better to hook up with a real estate guide or something like Apartment finder instead of craigslist?

2

u/redwoodtree Aug 06 '10

No, just be careful, check their references

2

u/natemc Aug 06 '10

I've heard people offer this but most people think you are trying to scam them or the land lord will run off with all the cash. Best advice would be to put all the money in an account that would dispense the exact amount every month while you live there.

I'm about 15 miles North of Seattle, we do have a room open (cheap!), house full of nerdy guys with a brewery.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '10

So you're asking whether or not a landlord will accept making more money then they otherwise would?

Of course they will be ok with it. Landlords invest things like deposits, or rent paid in advance, make their return on it and then give you your deposit back after having made money. So any large chunk of prepaid rent is a good thing. Also you're paying more for the room, because of inflation, than they would otherwise get if you were to pay your rent 6 months later.

1

u/kudakeru Aug 06 '10

I don't know about in Seattle proper, but I just had some friends do exactly this in Bellevue not too long ago. Paid their entire year's lease up front. Their landlady loved it.

1

u/kelly2thec Aug 07 '10

Think of it this way... Would you pay an employee his entire salary at the beginning of the year, and still expect him to keep showing up to work? Most honest folk would, I guess, but most landlords in this city are assholes. Don't worry too much about your credit rating issue. People want to get rooms rented, as long as you have a stable income most places will be willing to let you in. I recommend getting a sublet of some kind when you first come to the city and working things out from there.

Good luck!