How to Rent to Own Homes

Rent to own homes are a popular way for people with bad credit to buy a house. Even people that have good credit but are not sure if they are ready for home ownership can use rent to own homes. The concept behind rent to own homes is the seller of the house will be like the creditor to the buyer. The buyer makes a down payment to the owner and pays monthly rent. A portion of that rent will go towards diminishing the final price of the house. The final price will also be agreed upon by the seller and buyer.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Look for rent to own homes online in such places are craigslist. Even if the owner is not advertising his home as rent to own, you can still offer it as way to buy the house from the owner. This method will work very well during a housing slump when credit is tight and housing values are dropping. The owner will be more open to different ways to sell his house.

2. Bargain with the owner for his rent to own homes. Bargaining for a home is an absolute must and it’s no different when you are bargaining for rent to own homes. You can bargain on many fronts, including, the amount of down payment, the monthly rent, and the final price. Don’t limit yourself to just the money either. You can also bargain for other things like having the owner throw in some furniture to sweeten the deal.

3. Sign the rent to own home contract. Make sure you detail everything in contract including the down payment, the monthly rent and final purchase price of the home. To make sure everything goes smoothly, you can have a real estate attorney write up the contract.

Tips & Warnings

• Rent to own homes are a good way to get a feel for home ownership before taking the plunge and getting a mortgage. However, if you choose not to purchase the home at the end of the contract, you will forfeit your down payment towards the rent to own homes.