RentToOwn-HouseFinder.com
What is a rent to own home? How does a rent to own house compare with lease purchase or owner financing?
I am in the market to buy a rent to own home but I am confused about the different types of contracts available. I have heard of rent to own homes, lease purchase contracts, owner financing agreements, and land contracts. I was wondering if there are all in reference to homes for rent to own or if they can differ from transaction to transaction. Also, I have been having difficulty trying to find rent to own homes in California on my own and my realtor is pretty clueless. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how I can do more research on rent to own and find more available homes.
Public Comments
- There isn't a typical search that you can do to find a rent-to-own home. Rent-to-own, lease purchase and owner financing are all the same mostly. They only differ with the details that the seller of the home and the buyer set up. The best way to find something like that is to find a For Sale By Owner home in your area. People that list their homes with agents don't typically have that option. If you rent to own, then your agent won't get paid, so she/he isn't really working hard for you.
- I strongly urge you to work with a Realtor to make certain your rights are considered. These types of buys aren't as easy as they may sound. Most will required a larger downpayment than if you were to just purchase something. The downside to all of them is if the seller/owner doesn't make the mortgage payments, you could be out the money you provided up front and still not have legal title to the property. While the mortgage industry has tightened the requirements to qualify, I suggest you work with a Realtor and ask them to check out non profit buyer funding grants. You may find you can qualify and they will help you with downpayment and closing costs. Best of Luck!
- Be careful of rent to own contracts. Most will charge you more for rent (more than if it is not a rent to own), and apply that extra amount towards the purchase in case you decide to buy. If you decide not to buy, you lose all that extra money. The purchase price, is based on the value of the home at the time you exercise your option to buy, and usually will be a lot more after a few years living there. If you make any improvements to the property while you are renting, it is all done out of your own pocket. Such improvements increase the value of the home, and thus the purchase price when you exercise your option buy. No matter how you slice it, you lose.
- It's probably like rent-to-own cars or appliances and electronics., which I believe the big difference (maybe huge) is that you probably don't need a bank loan.
- Conditions vary, but they all are really "rent to own".
- Rent To Own Homes can definitely be complicated for the novice buyer OR seller. Whenever I do a Rent To Own Transaction, I always like to have some sort of Specialist aiding me, but the beauty of the transaction is that you don't really even need one. There are several benefits for Rent To Own for both buyers and sellers. (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Benefits+for+buyers+of+rent+to+own) If you want more information on contracts, several sites offer help finding contracts for Rent To Own Transactions. (http://www.irenttoown.com/California-Rent-To-Own-Homes-Rent-To-Own-Agreements-Specialists.aspx) Clueless Realtors definitely impede progress on these kinds of deals, but like I said, you don't always need them! There are tons of sites out there that list Rent To Own Homes. iRentToOwn.com is the largest Rent To Own Homes Database in the nation currently. There are other more local sites as well. If you ever come out to Texas, let me know and I'll help you out!
- rent to own is most often a scam either by the buyer who is looking to resell it for the down payment or the seller who typically does not own the property. Read this blog and consult a real estate attorney before you get involved in anything http://repupil.com/posts/category/real-estate-scams/
