Rents are skyrocketing, and incomes are not. One in five millennials are living in poverty, and are either stuck with parents, couch surfing, or on the street. And it’s not for lack of effort. Even $15 an hour, in major cities like New York and San Francisco, is just enough on a single income to cover expenses and maybe have some social life until the next check.
God forbid an incident or major expense arise. Tack on having no or poor credit – it’s hard to get credit with no credit, and we never learn about this sort of thing in school – and finding an apartment becomes quite the challenge. Add on a security deposit and you see why many young folk are crashing couches or wherever they can. You work hard, you deserve a nice place to rest your head. Here are 3 hacks to rent a nice place with poor credit and no security deposit.
Lease Takeover
Often times you make enough to cover the rent, but the added expenses of moving, application fees, deposits, and paying extra months rent upfront can be a hassle. Lease takeovers are great because they present a win-win for everyone involved. Someone just got a new job in another city, or has a new baby on the way and needs more space – or whatever other reason causing people to need to leave their homes before their lease expires. That’s where you step in. If all parties are hip, then you agree to takeover the remainder of the lease term, and will arrange to either pay the landlord or them directly. This gives you time to build towards another place, or build a relationship with the landlord or staff so that you can easily stay in the apartment longer if you like. The tenant is happy because they get to keep their deposit and not pay any early termination fees, and the landlord keeps a steady flow of rental income without having to advertise a vacant apartment, and you get a nice place, minimum hassle.
AirBnb
Start by booking a short term stay at an AirBnb and expressing to the host your interest in a longer term stay and offer to negotiate a price for a longer term stay if everything goes well. Many digital nomads are taking this approach. Instead of conventional apartment living, they travel the world staying in different cities for a month or so at a time, needing only their laptops and light luggage. Depending on the relationship you develop with your host you can make it a more permanent home or you can continue to try new places until your ready for a perfect fit
Long Term Hotel Stay
Another awesome alternative is to find hotels that offer long term stays. They usually offer them at a discounted rate and it helps them keep rooms filled that would otherwise remain vacant. The cool thing for you is that you get cable and wifi (warning: hotel wifi tends to be crappy), breakfast, a pool, fresh clean towels and linens on the regular. If you can find the right situation it’s actually a pretty sweet set up, and a relaxing way to have roof over your head as you get your affairs in order.
