How Does a Rent to Own Work?
A Rent to Own program, also known as a Lease Option Agreement, is designed to assist individuals who have difficultly obtaining a mortgage or have credit issues. It provides a way to re-build credit scores and accumulate a larger down payment before they need to qualify for a mortgage. In other words you get to live in the house of your dreams now.
“a way to re-build credit scores and accumulate a larger down payment”
What Are The Benefits?
A potential home buyer may be able to pay for their current rent without difficulty, yet cannot qualify for a mortgage because of credit difficulties in the past even though often times a mortgage is less than their current rent. On top of that the real estate market continues to grow every year at an average rate of approximately 6%, which keeps many people from ever saving enough money to buy a house. It reminds me of dangling a carrot in front of a disabled rabbit on a treadmill.
A rent to own program solves these problems by allowing you to live in your dream home now, build your credit, save money, and stabilize a future purchase price.
The Rent to Own program that we offer includes a consultation with a Credit Specialist. This person will give you a snap shot of your finances and help create a road map of your future. They will also work with you one on one and provide credit counseling to you throughout the term. This FREE service provides guidance to you on how to efficiently and effectively rebuild your credit. It is not a magic potion, or a quick fix diet, you have to do the work, but you will have expert guidance along the way.
What House Do I Buy?
In our rent to own program, we sit down with you and decide what properties fit your requirements. We are real estate sales professionals so we shop for the property with you just like a regular buyer would. When you find the right house, we may buy the property ourselves, or have one of our investors purchase it for you to move into as a Rent-to-Own tenant. A portion of your monthly rent will be credited each month to apply toward your down payment when you exercise your option to purchase.
Rent to Own Step-By-Step
- You fill out an online application for the Rent to Own program or print one out from our website and fax or e-mail it back to us.
- We review your Application and have our mortgage specialist check your credit to get a financial snapshot of what your credit looks like today.
- Our mortgage broker will get back to us with your approval and let us know what maximum house price you can afford based on your income.
- You start looking for properties on the MLS or Private Sales in the area(s) of your choice within the price range you have qualified for.
- Once you find a home you are interested in, we will draft an offer to purchase and negotiate the deal with one of our investors as the purchaser. You will also sign a lease with the option to purchase for this house. This agreement will be between you and the investor.
- You put down a small down payment that is 100% credited toward your purchase price when you buy at the end of the term. (example $5,000).
- You get to move into the home under the Lease to Own program!
- You will accumulate monthly credits toward your down payment each month as you pay rent.
- Any improvements you make are yours because you will eventually own it.
- We will pay for a credit specialist to work with you during the Lease to Own term to help you repair any credit issues that need to be taken care of for you to be able to qualify for a mortgage to buy your home.
- When the lease is up you will get a mortgage of your own or assume the current mortgage in your own name and be the proud owners of your home
Here is an example of a typical rent to own program:
Example Rent-to-Own
| Initial Down Payment |
$7,500 |
Generally about 2.5% of the purchase price of the home, or $5000, whichever is greater. |
| Total monthly payment Monthly Rent portion Monthly Option portion |
$1800 |
Utilities not included.* Numbers vary depending on the property. |
| Lease Term |
2 Years |
1-3 years based on your credit |
| Agreed to purchase price at the end of the lease period |
$300,000 |
Locked in at the beginning of the term when you sign the Option to Purchase Agreement. |
| Down payment saved over the lease period |
$7,200 |
($300 x 24 months) |
| Total down payment saved |
$14,700 |
$7,200 + $7,500 (initial down payment) |
| Amount owing to purchase house after 2 year lease. |
$285,300 |
This amount can be financed with a first mortgage from a bank or other lending company. |
This amount can be financed with a first mortgage from a bank or other lending company.
We are delighted to help people attain their goals of home ownership. We pride ourselves with our out-of-the-box thinking to help people get a leg up on life. Your experience with us will be positive and enjoyable. We want you to refer us for everything related to real estate!
If you would like to know more about whether a rent-to-own option is right for you please please call or fill out the form below.
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I have heard some investors and buyers comment that rent to own is a scam and to stay away from it! I feel so sad for people who have had a bad experience and am disgusted by those individuals who have taken advantage of people in need. Our process is designed to put everybody in the best position to succeed and we work incredibly hard up front to ensure the buyers are qualified. We say “no” more often than “yes.” We also use our real estate brokerage to hold money in trust just like a regular home purchase. The main deposit never touches the investors hands until successful closing or an unfortunatel default. We are not the middle man looking to make money by connecting “anybody” in need with “any” greedy investor. Everybody involved are professionals and have a genuine desire to help.