Housing/moving costs

[start1]

With residency starting soon I wanted to get advice regarding housing/moving for residency. I am going to be starting PGY-1 and when looking at renting places I found that they often need the equivalent of 2 months rent (~$2100) at least upfront for deposit/1st months rent

What are the options to pay for this while waiting to get paid salary, i.e. is there a way to pay for this via credit card? I know if you go through big commercial renting organizations they can take card but what if I am going via a smaller private landlord?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Do you literally have no money in your savings account? Because most people who have a major expense that they know about in advance will save up money for this sort of thing... The whole point of asking for that money up front is proving to the prospective landlord that you actually have money and will be able to pay your rent going forward, and if you can't that's a major red flag--of course you know you're about to start a well-paying job, but as far as your landlord knows you could be some crazy psycho making stuff up.

Your guess is as good as mine as to whether a specific private landlord has the ability to accept a credit card not. You may need to borrow some money from family or friends and pay them back when you get paid.

 

[Amygdarya]

Some banks offer relocation loans to new medical school graduates/incoming residents.

As to asking landlords about accepting credit cards (first of all, I'm not sure there are (m)any because of credit card fees etc, but let's assume they exist for the sake of the argument), think about it this way: the more "flexible" a landlord is in accommodating somewhat unconventional payment requests, the more likely that is an undesirable place to live for whatever reason, and you will likely be signing a year long lease to live there. So you'll be better off getting a loan from family/friends/banks and get a decent place now.

Also, if you think you have it bad, think again: people starting residencies in Boston and NYC will not only have some of the highest rents in the country (as well as the smallest apartments), but will also typically have to pay an equivalent of 4 months of rent (first month, last month, security and broker fee) in order to move in. Life's hard and then you die.

 

[Raryn]

There are services that will take a credit card payment and for a fee, send it as a check to a prospective landlord. Plastiq is one. Usually the fee is on the order of 2.5% if I remember right.

Honestly though, there's typically better options. School provided relocation loans, something

 

[Acoustic]

I think PayPal works too.

 

[ortnakas]

Some (most definitely not all) landlords would probably be willing to accept a copy of your contract, aka proof of future income, in lieu of part of the deposit. Worth a shot?

 

[wholeheartedly]

not residency, but a few places where i am now offered to let me pay the deposit and pet deposit over a few months since i had a good rental history and solid employment