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A Reddit user says they have over seven figures invested in the stock market and could comfortably cover decades of rent. Still, they keep getting rejected when applying for apartments.
They say they’re being “treated like a pariah” when applying for rentals despite having a decent net worth, but have suffered from a chronic illness for the past five years and are unemployed.
“For most of these places, I can afford 40 years worth of rent up front,” they wrote on Reddit’s r/RealEstate recently. “We could literally experience a nuclear war and I’d still never miss a rent payment.” Despite that, the response from landlords is often the same: “Uh… you’re unemployed?”
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The original poster added that they don’t want to buy a home because it would reduce their invested capital significantly, making renting the better financial choice for now.
It seems that the issue isn’t about whether the applicant can pay, but about how landlords evaluate risk.
Most rental applications rely on simple formulas, typically requiring tenants to earn three times the monthly rent. Because OP has been living off investments while dealing with a chronic illness, their tax returns don’t show strong traditional income.
That creates a problem. “Landlords want income,” one person commented. “Stocks aren’t income.” Even though investment portfolios can be worth millions, they don’t provide the predictable monthly cash flow landlords are trained to look for.
On top of that, landlords often struggle to interpret nontraditional finances. Without a clear, recurring income, they’re left wondering how rent will be paid month to month.
How it looks matters too. Several commenters said that telling landlords you’re unemployed but have a lot of money can come off as suspicious, even if it’s not. Some landlords may worry the income isn’t stable or don’t understand how the money works.
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