Should I offer more rent to secure a property?

Getting a rental property you love can be hard, especially in a tough housing market. So, is the right approach to offer more rent?

Depending on what and where you’re looking, plus how many other people are vying for the same place, getting approved for a property can be challenging.

Using the tactic to offer more rent is one thing you can do to improve your chances of success, but it’s not the only option. However, there are important considerations when weighing up the pros and cons.

You’re certainly entitled to offer more rent (voluntarily and not as a result of rent bidding). It could be a sweetener to entice the landlord/agent to accept your application over someone else.

If you’re thinking of offering more money upfront to secure a rental, don’t set your expectations too high. An offer to pay more rent doesn’t mean anything. A landlord will usually look for the best tenant with a positive tenancy history AND the best rent price they can get.

Offering to pay more rent is not a substitute for a strong and fully completed rental application, with all the required application documents and rental references. Even if you offer a higher rent, a weak or incomplete application knock out your chances.

Top tip: Moving to a new rental property? Did you know that you can RentPay can move with you? If you're enjoying the convenience and flexibility of using RentPay, simply update the address and agent details.

Rent bidding versus offer more rent

In the past, landlords/agents could ask or encourage renters to make an offer above the advertised price to secure the property. They may also have previously pitted prospective tenants against each other to create a bidding war. These tactics have the unfortunate effect of overinflating or driving up rent prices.

Thankfully, a landlord or property manager can no longer encourage nor ask you to offer more rent. This practice is called rent bidding (or rental bidding), and it's illegal to do so anywhere in Australia. There are now strict rules around how the price of a rental property is advertised. These recent changes have made renting conditions clearer and fairer for renters.

If a prospective tenant voluntarily (unprompted) offers to pay more rent for the property, this isn't considered as rent bidding. A prospective tenant offering to pay more rent in advance than required also isn't considered as rent bidding. Landlords/agents are allowed to accept an offer to pay more rent, as long as the offer was completely unsolicited.

Upsides to offering more rent

• Secure the rental property you want: A higher offer could seal the deal on a rental with solid competition. This could help in a hot market, or if you have specific needs and there are few suitable properties. If you're concerned about your application, a higher rent offer could make up for any weaknesses in your profile.
• You need to move by a set date: You might have a deadline looming to move out of your current property and secure a new one. Maybe you're relocating for a job and need to have your next home lined up before you start work. These or other situations where you need to move by a specific date could warrant deciding to offer more rent.
• Your offer could attract more interest: Your offer to pay more rent could catch a landlord's attention and reinforce your financial standing (e.g. ability to meet the required rent payments). It could increase the likelihood that a landlord will consider it and, hopefully, accept your application.
• It could speed up your rental application: Choosing to offer more rent could help to speed up the shortlisting process of knocking out other applicants.

Downsides of offering more rent

• You're spending more on rent unnecessarily: While there's no way of knowing, your rental application might actually be the strongest of the bunch. You might not need to offer more rent to have been picked as the preferred candidate. Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing—if only we had a crystal ball!
• You've neglected your rental application: Offering more money won't do you any good if the rest of your rental application is weak. Whether you're offering the asking rent or higher, it's worth always submitting a strong and fully completed application.
• Know your financial limits: You might think you have the capacity to service a higher rental price, but are you sure? Double check your numbers and budgets to see whether you can definitely afford to pay more rent. Also, be mindful that the rent can be increased every 12 months, so you'll need to have enough to cover any future increases. The last thing you'd want is to find yourself locked into a lease agreement that you can't afford. 
• Don't get caught in a scam: Exercise caution whenever you're applying to a rental property. This is particularly the case for private rentals and properties offered on more informal channels, like Facebook Marketplace. Many sure you avoid any possibility of rental scams. Always meet the landlord/agent in person and make sure they are who they say they are. Finally, if the deal seems too good... then it's probably to good to be true.

Alternatives to offering more rent

If you can't stretch the budget further or choose not to offer more rent, the good news is there are other ways to make your application stand out. Read about how to get your rental application to the top of the pile.

Top tip: Before submitting an application, you could ask the property manager what rental payment platform they're using. If their agency is using RentPay as their preferred payment method, then this might give you the edge if you're already using RentPay. Otherwise, you could suggest that they get onto RentPay too!

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> Make your rent money work for you with RentPay
> Can I improve my credit score by paying rent on time?