Sorry for the slow answer, yes, they'd have to have the money up front. It works better and is more common in multi-generational households where they can pool

Sorry for the slow answer, yes, they'd have to have the money up front. It works better and is more common in multi-generational households where they can pool their resources and savings across generations. There's a version where the deposit is much smaller (say 10k) and rent is still payed. The example I know the most about is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeonse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeonse