Dec 31, 2009
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.
Watch the video related to buying real estate
Avoiding foreclosure starts by making house payments on time. Find out how to avoid foreclosure withexpert tips from a licensed real estate agent in this free video. Expert: Richard Blake Bio: Richard Blake is a licensed real estate agent that has closed more than 20 times the number of transactions per year than that of the average realtor for the last three years. Filmmaker: Christopher Rokosz
Help answer the question about buying real estate
how to set goals for buying Real Estate?
I’m looking to start buying real estate. I’m looking for a good web site or any advice to start goal setting.
Hi Paul I was wondering can you get me a loan specialist on the FHA 203k rehab loan and the repo loan for ohio and detroit? and get me a list of properties the qualify in both cities
Well first and foremost you need to come up with the money. Here are some ways. . . . This is the biggest challenge and where most people give up on the whole idea. . . .
1. Get a mortgage http://www.jeremydrobeck.com
2. Ask friends & family to lend you the money
3. save up the $$$
4. withdraw from a 401k
5. move the money to a self directed IRA and then use the the IRA to buy property
6. personal loan
7. Get a peer to peer loan online.
YES ,
I make about 60K a yr in rent on an avrage of 6 homes
Its not all proffet. I try to make at least 200.00 a month more than the MTG , INS, & Taxes The longer U own it the the smaler the MTG Payment ,The ins & tax goes up And tennants Move out etc. Long Turm is ok Property Values aventuly go UP and then U can Cash in eather sell it Keep it for income / retierment
Good Luck
Hi
I am a real estate agent in Los Angeles Ca.
If you can help me where to find those banks notes .
Where do I need to start?
I thank you/
where the turf..meets the surf….. your fingers not pulsating that much,
if you have time to write the 1st chapter of a very boring book.
The first goal is to live within a budget. You'll need to do this to properly handle the house payment and still put some aside for retirement.
The next goal is to aggressively save for a down payment.
While you're saving for the down payment, read and research the home buying process.
Better question is what area in Manhattan can you afford. Before meeting with the broker you should let him/her know what your price range is. Questions to the realtor should be:
How much down payment
Monthly maintenance
How difficult to be accepted by Condo Association
Amount of money in reserve for major repairs and renovations of common areas.
How often have owners been charged with special assessments.
Do some research of average condo prices per sq. footage,
Good luck
My dealings with relo companies have been mixed. It used to be more common for companies to offer relocation packages to employees of a *certain position*. The benefits to the employees can vary widely.
Sounds like you are dealing with a buy-out. That's a pretty sweet deal for the transferring employee. Typically, an appraisal is done and the employee and the company reach an agreement of a buy-out price. At that point, there is little incentive for the transferring employee to negotiate the price down from what the company has agreed to pay.
At this point, you will typically do all negotiations with the owner, not the relo company. Some times, after the property is under contract between the owner and a buyer, but, just before closing (a couple of days), the relo company will buy out the owner and then closing documents and will show the relocation company as the seller of record. Just depends on the deal the owner (transferring employee) has.
You may just have to wait and see if you can negotiate with the relo company AFTER the buy-out. It may take a while until the relo company recognizes that the asking price is too high. Then you may be able to negotiate a lower price.
Good luck.
You dont need to join a website to get listings. However, what we have done at the office is purchase a marketing kit from http://www.getthoselistings.com it worked well because we were able to target specifically the listings we wanted…and my boss was thrilled because our completive advantage increased drastically! But check it out, and if you have any questions I'd be glad to help (or I'm sure you can contact the site owner).
I am an agent, I closed on a property yesterday for 434K and the house appraised 2 years ago for 800K…it really depends on the bank, some banks don’t even accept FHA lons, It also depends on the condition of the house..in most cases form my experience, your offer will not be accepted without signing a bank adddendum, you have to read that document carefuly and consult an attorney..
No.
But anyone who tells you at your level of experience and knowledge to go in debt to invest and buy real estate by using your home as security is doing you a disservice, especially as roller coaster natured as California real estate is. There will even be someone who will counter my comments herein to say how wrong I am and tout their success. I recall the Bible verse that says "Many are called but few are choosen." So as you are filing the bankruptcy forms it is too late, and you'll remember to not do it again. I have helped people like you write the letters of explaination for their financial failures enough to know that for the average person it is not a wise decision to gamble with the family home and its security.
You need to save some funds, for in the next yr or so there will be forclosures in CA that you will be able to get favorable bank financing on at good prices. I'd suggest that a better investment is a commercial income producing property that has long term leases and low turnover with "credit" tenants if possible.
A lot of these guru people that tell you to go in debt also have disclaimers in small fonts that also say "…these results are not typical." There will be a few that do succeed and those few will be the featured guests- who are also compensated for their endorsement. Several of those same guru pitching their material have also been bankrupt but they do not tell you that, because you would then not buy their program because it did not work for them not does not work for most people. That is why they now "tell" you how to get rich, as they get paid- by you up front for their "knowledge" or technique. Many simply tell you what you want to hear, an easy way to get wealthy when in fact there is no such way or everybody would be doing it.
True, real estate is a good means to grow wealth but there are better ways to invest in real estate with less risk than leveraging your home thereby putting it, possibly your marriage and family at risk.
I don't know what you mean by savings. The mortgage interest and property taxes are deducted on schedule A as you already know. That helps to reduce the amount of tax you owe at the end of the year. (if you would have owed any). I guess what you are asking is how much each paycheck will you save in federal income tax??
To figure that out you have to know how much interest per year your mortgage will be and how much property tax your house will be charged.
After you know those answers you can divide the total by the number of paychecks you receive a year and then have your employer reduce your federal witholding by that amount.