Buying Real Estate Using Rent-To-Own And Lease-Purchase Options

Buying Real Estate Using Rent-To-Own And Lease-Purchase Options

Owing a home is a big part of the American dream. But not everyone is fortunate enough to become a homeowner due to delimiting factors such as insufficient income, bankruptcy, bad or no credit, loss of employment, etc. For people with such troubles, owning a home is a distant dream and some of these people resign themselves to a lifetime of renting. But such people are not without options. Rent-to-own, which is also known as a lease-purchase option, can be an excellent alternative available to some people who are currently unable to buy a home.

A rent-to-own or lease-purchase option is an agreement between a prospective home buyer and a home seller. The agreement is basically a rental contract with a right to purchase the property after a period of time (usually 1 year). When a home seller offers a lease-purchase option, what they are really offering is the option to rent the house at some monthly rate, and to lock in the sales price of the home now, even though the prospective buyer would not actually purchase the house until a later time (if at all).

Here is a hypothetical example. Let’s say the monthly rent for a home is $1700. Under a lease-purchase option, a prospective buyer would rent the home for the $1700 a month, but would also pay an additional premium (e.g., $200-$300) every month for the option to buy the home after a period of time (usually 1 year). So in this example, the total monthly rent is actually $2000, but $200-$300 of the money will be applied toward buying the house at a later time. In other words, the home seller would apply the $200-$300 extra paid every month toward the prospective buyer’s down payment at the end of the year.

The good news for prospective home buyers is that it allows them to lock in the purchase price of the home now, even though they are not purchasing the home until a later time. The bad news is that if a buyer decides not to purchase the home at the end of lease term, the seller often keeps the premium amount paid over the year, although this is usually a point of negotiation.

Prospective home buyers should know that many of the terms described above are negotiable such as how much the monthly rent will be, how much extra has to be paid every month for the option fee (if any), the length of the lease term, etc. The other issue to consider is if it makes sense to lock in a home purchase price now in markets where real estate prices are still declining.

When compared to renting, a lease-purchase can be an attractive alternative because it gives prospective buyers an opportunity to own a home before they normally would be able to. There are some advantages to a lease-purchase option such as:

1) Low or No Initial Down Payment. Many lease-purchase options do not require an initial down payment.

2) Equity Advantage. At the end of the lease term, the value of a home may have appreciated over time, which benefits the purchaser.

3) Living Experience. Prospective home buyers have the opportunity to try out a home and neighborhood before purchasing the property.

4) Leverage Advantage. With just a small investment, a prospective buyer can control a property; yet still have the option of not buying the home if market conditions don’t warrant it.

Rent-to-own or lease-purchase option can be an effective strategy to home ownership. However, there are both positive and negative aspects to this type of approach (as described above). A good real estate agent can help you navigate the complex world of rent-to-own and lease-purchase option properties.

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San Diego Homes
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Tierrasanta Real Estate

18 Responses to “Buying Real Estate Using Rent-To-Own And Lease-Purchase Options”

  1. antoniob35 says:

    whoa!!it looks like a PICTURE!
    ur an amazing painter!:D

  2. MustLoveDingos says:

    *sub*

  3. champ0y says:

    You’re really good man. You’ve got excellent talent.

  4. Trice P says:

    stay out of the mainstream area;
    that is, listing houses for sale.

    become an exclusive buyer's agent.
    Rep middle income and upper income
    black women as a niche.

    Also poke into doing commercial
    and industrial purchases.

    and maybe business brokerage

    plus, interview different agencies–
    most are Realtor focused; which
    means they take listings. YOU can
    choose not to do that via being
    an exclusive BUYER's agent.
    [they don't sell RE--they help
    buyers buy, and that is a different
    approach].

    plus u can find those offices that
    have 100% approaches [where
    the agent pays for desk space and
    does not split the commission.]

    available to help -though I am not
    in TN.

  5. Lisa L says:

    You have a LEGAL AND BINDING CONTRACT. all disclosures within the contract should be what the seller knows about the property. Now the other agent cannot FORCE you to sign anything. Basically what the agent is trying to do is cover his clients ass- if the selling side has a problem with it you can always take it before arbitration (see how they like that). Either way the selling agent is not within his rights to present other docs. for disclosures, nor do you let them off the hook. You will have no recourse if you do. Hope this helps.

  6. Hermann759 says:

    Great talent Der Mann.

  7. ladyvibe03 says:

    If you are talking about selling real estate as an agent, then
    You can take real estate classes in college or you can go to a real estate school (this is what most agents and brokers do) you will have to take a licensing test from the state.
    If you are talking about investing, then there are REITs you can invest in through a stock broker,
    If you are talking about investing by flipping (buying and fixing then selling)
    you will need to learn about costs of materials, value of real estate in your area, subcontracting for plumbing etc and have time for equity labor.

    below is link to kaplan schools, one of the better real estate schools

  8. imtrudil80 says:

    Incredible! He looks so life like. Just amazing…and what a beautiful subject

  9. realreynolds says:

    One doesn't eliminate the other one. My broker is a Lawyer and his experience/practice is in Real Estate. After 10 years of practicing law, he decided to be a Broker.
    Go ahead!

  10. Linda704 says:

    Check with your local Howard, Perry & Walston school, or go to http://www.hpwreschool.com for all the info you are looking for. Good luck, it's hard but well worth it in the end.

  11. Ryan 1 says:

    I am a real estate agent in Australia with my own independent office.

    I am not sure what courses are like through franchises, however, here, the courses with regular real estate schools are very good.

    When you are looking to find an agency to work for, consider the following:

    - do they regularly pay for training for their employees? what kind of training and how frequently?
    - does management get regular training and upgrade their knowledge on changes in legislation etc (here we have special annual education to attend to stay in the know)
    - what internal systems and procedures do they have that will assist people who are just starting out? for example, a good computer software and training resources in the office for when you get stuck on something.
    - is there someone more experienced in the office that can mentor you?

    I believe that a franchise is not necessarily the best, often all the training that they attend is in house, and they are not open to external training providers (which can be very beneficial).

    You need to look at the individual operator of the office to decide if it will be a good environment to start your career or not.

  12. lidiabarbarita says:

    Very nice!!

  13. Bdd says:

    Wow! what a great question from a 14 year old. a LLC (Limited Liability Company) is incorporated with the Attorney Generals office in the state it is established in. The best way to do that is to go to an Attorney. A holding company and a Development company may be combined into one, have different division or groups to do the different objectives, or even the same people.

    You can never have too much money to start a company, it's the too little that matters. Your best bet is to save as much as possible, write up a business plan, go to friends and family for investment in the company before you start out and hope to have a minimum of $50,000 to $500,000 to start your company. Then you can go to a bank and borrow, usually 2 to 3 times that much more to make your first purchases.

    Yes there are Capital gains even for companies to pay with investment properties.

    When you are ready, have your board of directors vote to take your company public by registering with the Securities and Exchange commission, with the assistance of a Stock Brokerage Company.

  14. HappyNotGrumpy says:

    Excellent work. Pleasure to watch. Perfect music :-) ))

  15. Donald W says:

    http://myitcareer.info/

  16. Xiang Z says:

    Russ Whitney has a great coaching program you may want to take a look at.

    Good Luck

    Sheldon Moylan of Dominion Lending Centres

  17. monkeymanbob says:

    Nice work, you did pretty good.

  18. Forbidia says:

    Brilliant Willy, Just Brilliant =D

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