FIRE with no job but lots of liquid assets. How do I get a LL to rent to me?

[checkedoutat39]

What the topic says. I'm in the market for a new place. I have several hundred thousand in readily liquid assets (stocks and bonds), plus retirement accounts I can access in the usual way (Roth contributions, 72t etc). Fico is 828 (TU FICO 8), seven years renting from current LL with spotless payment history. Have a guarantor if necessary (willing to sign) and someone who can verify a consulting gig I've been on (no work recently tho).

That said... some people may still want employment. I figure my assets are better collateral because jobs can be lost and references can be faked. Probably preaching to the choir. Current LL didn't care about employment; it was the wake of the crash and they were probably happy to have a body in here.

But I feel like explaining FIRE, offering to show them brokerage statements, waving savings bonds in their face etc may be counterproductive.

How do I approach this so I don't get shut out?

Landlords, what can a FIRE do to convince you to rent to them?

[AlexK]

Pay entire lease amount in cash up front. That ought to shut them up.

[waltworks]

Come back when you actually run into trouble. Employment verification for leases is *mostly* something done at the low end of the rental market. Unless you're renting in the ghetto, the LL will probably run a quick background and credit check, and then happily cash your deposit check and rent to you.

I've had a bunch of high end rentals (ie $250k+ places) and never bothered to verify employment for anyone.

-W

[Laserjet3051]

Come back when you actually run into trouble. Employment verification for leases is *mostly* something done at the low end of the rental market. Unless you're renting in the ghetto, the LL will probably run a quick background and credit check, and then happily cash your deposit check and rent to you.

I've had a bunch of high end rentals (ie $250k+ places) and never bothered to verify employment for anyone.

-W

I lease a property in the high end of the real estate market where I live ($850K home) and my current landlord did in fact run an employment check on me as he was very nervous having been burned by bad tenants in the past. Just sayin.......

[Paul der Krake]

Shouldn't be a problem. People rent apartments without jobs all the time.

[Missy B]

Your good credit rating and a reference from your last landlord saying that you paid the rent on time for seven years and treated the place well would be all I'd need.

[TrMama]

I agree that you probably don't have a problem. As a former landlord, I ran credit checks and called employer references simply to confirm that the potential tenant paid their bills on time and wasn't lying to me about their circumstances. I didn't care at all where their income came from since we all know of instances of people with good income who don't pay their bills and vice versa.

I would only have a problem with you if you told me you worked for XYZ company when in fact you didn't. I would wonder why you felt the need to lie and would look for a tenant who would be less of a PITA. Be honest and don't act nervous.

[tralfamadorian]

Landlord here- DO NOT OFFER TO PREPAY RENT

Most landlords will not accept a year's rent up front; many states have laws around prepaid rent that can be a real hassle- separate bank account, calculating interest.   Also one hypothetical that landlords do think of- if something goes wrong and you turned out to be a terrible tenant, it would be difficult for the landlord to enforce violated lease terms and ask you to leave.  Drug dealers are the biggest class of people that habitually do this. 

And a second hypothetical that it is aimed towards protecting yourself.  You offer the prepaid rent and they take it; they don't give a damn about following the law and doing the irritating paperwork above.  What if the landlord is irresponsible or willfully negligent in taking care of the rental?  Your hot water heater goes out and they take two weeks to get a new one?  Or the refrigerator goes and you're still waiting a month later?  You will have ($x rent)(y months remaining lease term) at risk and you would have a hell of a time getting that back. 

Just be honest and humble brag- you are independently wealthy and are not working for income by your own choice but are happy to provide a bank statement (not all of them- just one healthy one will do) showing your ability to pay the rent.  Credit score/references/background check will do the rest.  I've had trust fund college students and older retirees qualify for rentals through substituting demonstrable assets for W2 income.  It's not unusual.

[checkedoutat39]

Oh, I'd never want to prepay rent unless it's for a few months in the summer or something. I don't have any protections either in case of maintenance or livability concerns. I do understand LLs may get suspicious about illegal activity if you brandish a wad of cash.

I'm just trying to take the initial "no" off the table here. The more I can do to convince LLs what an agreeable person I am at the start the larger the pool of available places is.

[waltworks]

Seriously, this is not going to be a problem. Go rent a place. If for some bizarre reason it actually becomes an issue come back and tell us.

-W

[Dollar Slice]

I dunno how common this is, but it does happen. When I was applying to my current apartment, they refused to take my mother as a guarantor because she is retired (with multiple million NW, perfect credit history, nearly paid-off mortgage, etc.) and would not consider my own NW (low six figures). Luckily my dad is still working, so he could co-sign. My mom was kind of offended that these people didn't consider her a good credit risk!

Maybe you could show them your investment income? You'd think they wouldn't care where the money came from as long as it's steady income.

[jinga nation]

As a landlord I have two current tenants who don't have a job. One is a retired veteran who showed me his pension, and the other showed me her bank statements and NFL spouse pension income (she is ex-wife of a retired player). Good enough for me. If OP were a potential tenant, you'd have a lease in 24 hours from me.

[Kl285528]

Rented a place to someone with a very recent bankruptcy, had a good story, decent job, and good reference from former landlord. I rented to her with a three month deposit, figured I would evict if I had a problem. Great tenant. For you? With a good reference from prior landlord or landlords this would be a standard lease for me with one month security deposit . There will be those landlords that are more bureaucratic that "have their policies" but there should be plenty who would welcome someone like you. I would!

[MaikoTsumi]

Pay entire lease amount in cash up front. That ought to shut them up.

A smart landlord would reject on the spot for cash up front.  Accepting the entire lease amount may sound great, but it opens up too many complications for the landlord if a problem does come up.  Also, it's a red flag that your rental is about to become a crack house.