We want to rent but have a complicated situation - HELP! (apartment, lease)

[eviscia]

Hi everyone,
I don't think I've ever posted here, but I need some advice. I'm going to try my best to explain our complicated situation.

My family is looking to move into an awesome 4 bedroom 2.5 bath house in North Wilmington, DE. We currently live in Georgetown, DE (95 mile distance). My family includes my husband and I, our three children, and a good friend of ours who is moving with us as our live-in nanny. Currently, I do not work. I'm starting a self-owned web design business. I do work on Saturdays cleaning Summer rental homes, though under the table. My husband works full-time as a plumber. He receives personal checks from his employer, but is reported as an employee. He does not receive paychecks with a pay stub. My husband makes about $13 an hour at 40 hours/week. My friend works full-time, making $500 biweekly. I get $50 per Saturday for cleaning, which is about $200 a month. The rent for the home we want is 1600/month. I'm also enrolled in college full-time for my BS in Software Engineering.

We are moving to Wilmington to obtain occupations up there, but if we want to apply now, we can't say "oh we will". I know it doesn't work that way. A good friend of ours is working to get us jobs at Comcast. We will be bringing in about 4k a month after taxes, provided that it goes through like planned. Otherwise, my husband will be making $100 a day doing lawns .

So, we went ahead and looked at the house. It was a bad idea since we aren't ready, but on a positive note, it's available Oct 1st, which is when we are planning to move. The property manager is the coolest guy ever. I did figure out that we can afford the house with our current income.

Here are our issues:
-All three of us have terrible credit.

Personally, I know my score is 521. I do have an auto loan in good standing. I had to break 2 leases before, but not due to eviction, and both were about 3 years ago. I was a housewife both times. My fiance at the time lost his job, so we couldn't afford our apartment. The second least was about 10 months complete out of 12, and my fiance and I split up. We wanted to live together until the year was up, but he didn't want to stay anymore, so I had to find a way to pay the rent on my own, which I couldn't. All of my debts have been purchased by collection agencies.

My husband just has credit cards on his report, so we aren't too worried about that. I just found out that my friend, who was going to be the second applicant due to the fact I have no job, owes money to a place her and a friend were renting 2 years ago. Evidently, she was working full-time at Target, but he wanted to leave, so he turned in the keys and came back to DE. Other than that, she doesn't really have much credit.

-We do not currently have a bank account. My husband and I both had banks on our reports, which is why we didn't have bank accounts. His was recently paid off, so we are trying to get an account now. Other than that, we have one of those Walmart cash cards with the Visa logo.

-We don't have any savings right now, but our family can help us with that.

-We cannot pay more than the required 1st month, sec dep, and pet deposit. It will cost 4k to move in. It's not a big deal, except I was hoping if the credit was an issue, we could pay a few months in advance. Apparently that's against Delaware law for a landlord to charge that much more.

- I'm not sure if this will be looked at negatively, but my friend does not have a driver's license.

Here are our positives:

- The landlord seems lenient. He could easily get 2000/month for that house, but doesn't care about the price as long as it will be taken care of.

- The property manager seems eager to work with us.

- We can have a co-signer, and we have two people to call on for that if needed.

- Pets have been accepted and the place is perfect.

So what do we do? Our next step is to get a bank account. We were thinking of borrowing money in advance from our relatives to put into the account so we at least have something. I have been honest with the property manager, because I think that's the best policy. I'm only 24 so I've made some mistakes in my early adulthood. However, now, as a wife and a mother of 3, I understand what is important. How can I prove this to the owner of the house? What about entering a lease purchase if that is an option? Would that require less proving? We are so in love with this house. If we don't get it, we'll apply in a year if it's available again.

Also, we're afraid of waiting too long. Should we take our time to apply for it, or apply right away? Can we apply a second time if conditions improve before it's been rented?

Thanks for your time, I know that was a long post.

[Squirl]

WHEW! I would only lease to you if you had local jobs and a good prior work history and good landlord references. Just too dang complicated, tho, so you would not be at the top of my tenant list.

[AdotAllen]

Originally Posted by eviscia

- The landlord seems lenient. He could easily get 2000/month for that house, but doesn't care about the price as long as it will be taken care of.

I would make sure that they are allowed to rent the place. If they are able to get $2000 but are giving you a deal at $1600- I would think something is up. What is wrong with the property?

[eviscia]

Originally Posted by Squirl

WHEW! I would only lease to you if you had local jobs and a good prior work history and good landlord references. Just too dang complicated, tho, so you would not be at the top of my tenant list.

Yeah no kidding. I know it's got to be possible, so I'm not going to give up. We do have good references though. Our current landlord will recommend us, as well as my husband's boss, and even his prior boss. I hope that will help. Do you think that a co-signer would help too? I would think that if someone is willing to co-sign for someone else, it would look really good. One of our potential co-signers has an immaculate credit score over 700. My dad is the other, and I'm not sure what his score is, but I know it's good. Is it possible to have two co-signers?

[eviscia]

Originally Posted by AdotAllen

I would make sure that they are allowed to rent the place. If they are able to get $2000 but are giving you a deal at $1600- I would think something is up. What is wrong with the property?

I don't think anything is wrong with it. The property manager is from Coldwell Banker Preferred, so this isn't through the owner. It's my personal opinion about the possible rent. I'm not an appraiser, I've just been renting for a while lol. The only downfall is the heating is oil.

[ShaneSA]

I think with such a complicated situation the best thing to do is to talk to the property manager and see if you will qualify. You will get negatives and positives in here. The propery manager and/or owner are the only people who need to know this stuff and decide if you can rent the place.

[eviscia]

Originally Posted by ShaneSA

I think with such a complicated situation the best thing to do is to talk to the property manager and see if you will qualify. You will get negatives and positives in here. The propery manager and/or owner are the only people who need to know this stuff and decide if you can rent the place.

I was expecting positives and negatives through a forum. I appreciate the advice. I have talked to the property manager a bit about it. He says to just apply and see what happens. I wish this house didn't have just about everything on our wishlist lol. Otherwise, I could accept being rejected easily.

[lawmom]

Is the $4k per month net at Comcast for the three of you, or each? Because many landlords want to see that the household brings in at least 3 times the amount of rent per month, and that would be $4800. Realistically, with 3 children to feed, I think $1600 is too high a rent to pay on that income. Would your friend contribute 1/3 of the rent even though your family would comprise 5/6 of the tenants? Do you get student loans above and beyond tuition and books?

As stated, the only people whose opinions matter here are the property manager and the owner. All you can do is apply once you secure those jobs.

[eviscia]

Originally Posted by lawmom

Is the $4k per month net at Comcast for the three of you, or each? Because many landlords want to see that the household brings in at least 3 times the amount of rent per month, and that would be $4800. Realistically, with 3 children to feed, I think $1600 is too high a rent to pay on that income. Would your friend contribute 1/3 of the rent even though your family would comprise 5/6 of the tenants? Do you get student loans above and beyond tuition and books?

As stated, the only people whose opinions matter here are the property manager and the owner. All you can do is apply once you secure those jobs.

That is total between my husband and I. It's based on a 4 week month. Our friend will live with us and watch our children, do chores, and take care of the house in exchange for free room and board. She won't be working, but she will be attending school online. Yes, I do get student loans and grants above and beyond tuition and books. I attend University of Phoenix online and I get about 2500 to 3000 per three months. So I should wait until we obtain the Comcast jobs to apply? I suppose I'm worried about losing the house to another applicant by then.

[lawmom]

It never hurts to try -- the worst they can do is say no.