Do you have to have a job?

MelaBella

tattycath wrote: »

Isn't that ever so insulting on the one hand for people who flip burgers for a living and not very proactive as regards looking for a job? If I didn't have a job I would do anything (and indeed, have done alot of things) legal, above board etc to pay my way in life.

i think its up to the person and his particular circumstances what to do while looking for main job. Looking for job itself is a FT occupation and flipping burgers which pays you little money but occupies all your time so you cant pay full attention to the job interview, wont help at all, especially if the person have savings. please see my example above.

Annisele

I'm a former burger flipper who managed to combine burger flipping, studying *and* job searching. That really isn't very unusual...

I agree that whether somebody chooses to take a particular job is up to them. Lying to landlords is however going to get you in trouble. As you say, some landlords will accept rent up front - why not just go with one of those?

I'm also somewhat puzzled by your suggestion that you'd flip burgers before you'd use your savings for rent, but you're not currently flipping burgers, and you're suggesting paying six months up front. Where is the six month's worth of money going to come from if not savings?

MelaBella

Annisele wrote: »

I'm a former burger flipper who managed to combine burger flipping, studying *and* job searching. That really isn't very unusual...

Depends on what kind of job one is serching, if you are looking for high paid positions say.. in a bank, where in order to get a job you need to pass up to 10 rounds of interviews each time conducted by !!!!!! who will suck blood of you by the end of each interview, flipping the burgers while running from one interview to another wont help. so, thats why im saying its up to the particular persons circumstances.

martinsurrey

MelaBella wrote: »

this can potantially happen with any tenant. the one flipping burgers can get laid off the follwoing month, have no money and no savings and refuse to pay.

Im just intedsted why landlord have fears of unemployed tenants. I have a friend who is an investment banker left his job for a travel break and now is back and looking for job, got job offers which pays X amount but he wants Y amount, have probably 6 figure savings in the bank, found a house paid 6 months in advance with no problem...may be an excpetion but most often people who rent the property budget in advance alternatively if its a single person they can share a house, less hassle, less to pay and some dont even check the references.

its a balance of probability thing.

The one week clean drug addict with 7 huge dogs and several convictions for GBH and arson might have turned his life around and be the best tenant ever, but history has shown that he's got a higher probability than average to be a huge pain, a pain that most landlords would want to avoid.

Likewise, a lot of unemployed people will have a job in 6 months time and be upstanding citizens, but a disproportionate amount of agro come from unemployed tenants, until you can tell one from the other a lot of Landlords would avoid them all, even with 6 months upfront (as its impossible to tell a lying scumbag from a decent person whose between jobs).

Fire_Fox

tattycath wrote: »

Isn't that ever so insulting on the one hand for people who flip burgers for a living and not very proactive as regards looking for a job? If I didn't have a job I would do anything (and indeed, have done alot of things) legal, above board etc to pay my way in life.

Not necessarily. The OP intimated the occupation would be worse for him, he didn't make disparaging remarks about people who flip burgers. My idea of hell would be close contact with body waste products or rotting refuse: doesn't mean I look down on or am insulting care staff, nurses or refuse collectors.

millym

You will get caught out, as they will require payslips/bank statements/contact with employer.

I don't work due to health problems, but easily found a suitable property by providing a guarantor (whose employment status was thoroughly checked out btw).

You would be far better to offer a guarantor and/or extra months paid up front. But you will fare far better if you are honest.

I think you need to give more info about your situation before people can fully advise you though. Good luck!

Catherine_Johnson_2

marc1642 wrote: »

...........and paying rent would never be an issue; I would flip burgers before I used my savings to make rent.............

That doesn't make sense. How would you intend paying rent after the 6 month period if you are unemployed and wont use your savings?

No sensible LL is going to take on a tenant who has no income and no way of paying the rent. And even 'private' LLs will check up on your employment status, that's one of the basics along with a credit check.

As has been said, once the initial six months rent in advance runs out and no more rent is forthcoming it can take the LL 3-4 months to evict. Why would any LL take that risk on board.

And, yes MelaBella, there may be that one in a million tenant out there who has a stack of money in the bank just waiting to be used for rent, but, let's be honest, they are hardly going to be renting a property off one of us are they?!

marc1642

Thanks for all the responses.

To Catherine_Johnson. I said if I were still unemployed after six months I'd flip burgers/do telesales/door to door, whatever to make rent. If I didn't have a job, there'd be enough in my account to pay rent for a good long while, I have nearly 20k in savings. Any landlord would be lucky to have me, but like you say, there are some idiots out there that make it harder for the rest of us.

trailingspouse

No, you don't need a job - when we returned from living abroad, we didn't have jobs (although we'd been running our own business, and had every intention of continuing to do so). All we needed was a sponsor, which my husband's brother agreed to do. No need for anything fraudulent or underhand. We were asked to pay a double bond, which was understandable - but in answer to your basic question, no, you don't need to have a job.

HappyMJ

How do people who live off savings rent a place? Such as those who are retired or self employed and have either no income at all or a basic state pension but lots of cash? I'm a bit confused as to the opinions posted regarding landlords not willing to take on a risk of an asset rich person renting with no PAYE employed income. I know employed people who have much less money than me who would find it very difficult paying the rent from month to month but I could pay the rent for years without having to work but I'm seeing posts saying I am an extremely bad risk. I am part time self employed and show a very low income to HMRC by efficient tax planning reducing my gross income to reduce tax payable.