Sure, but a month's rent is something like 0.5% of the cost of a house. If they simply offered 1.5% more for the house to get the one they wanted would anyone say "No person actually looking for a place to live would do that"?

$10k on the base offer or $10k in "free rent" is $10k either way.

The difference is that if they increased the price by $10K, you can get the loan to pay them, and you amortize that payment over 30 years. Many people are financially stressed enough to pay the downpayment - essentially you are saying the downpayment should go up by $10K. They may not have that $10K.

Yes, this is a very material difference to a lot of people, but the original claim was that it's something that only a speculator would do. I'm saying that as a person looking to buy and move into a house, this is 100% something I'd be happy to do.

Where I am, I'm seriously considering down payments in the hundreds of thousands. Should houses be that expensive? No, I personally believe we should build so much housing that it tanks the market. But the reality for people trying to buy a house here (Austin TX), +$10k to the down payment is insignificant compared to the price variation between home A and home B.