Tenants are already paying 12 months’ rent in advance

In Portugal, finding a home to rent has become so hard that there are tenants that pay 12 months’ rent in advance to convince owners, is stated, this Friday, by the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias.

“More people are making upfront offers that vary between a half a year and a year’s rent”, is disclosed by a real estate mediator in Lisbon, Cascais, Sintra and Oeiras. “Both the Portuguese and foreigners are doing it to move ahead of competition, but also to show they are willing to occupy the property for several months and to prove they are financially fit, something key for foreigners who have no taxation history in Portugal”, he adds.

Nuno Gomes, seller for the real estate company Remax Prestige, justifies that “proposals are more and more flowery because candidates feel that it is not enough to offer what is asked, the renting proposal needs to be reinforced“. Therefore, in addition to contracts, for example, “they ask for purchase options for the real estate after the contract ends to show they are committed to the real estate”.

Those “flowery” proposals from tenants are coming in a time of a steeper shortage of houses. According to Nuno Gomes, he receives over 70 proposals per day for a single real estate property. “I have such a large waiting list of customers, that if one real estate is released for renting one morning, it will have tenants by the afternoon”.