Tuesday, June 16, 2009

How to Rent to Own Homes

By Brian Luyuna

Rent to own homes are a great way for people to give home ownership a shot without actually having to get a loan. More and more people are giving this option a try considering loans are harder and harder to get and people are having reserves about buying a home.

The way rent to own homes works is the seller will act like a lender to the buyer. The seller and the buyer agree on a final purchase price of the home. The buyer makes a down payment on the house, and makes monthly rent payments. A portion of the rental payments will go towards reducing the final purchase price. At the end of some time, the buyer should get a loan and purchase the house.

Many people that do not have the ability to get a mortgage can rent to own homes instead. This way, you can put down on contract that you want to buy the house and nobody else can purchase it.

This is a great strategy especially during a housing slump when loans are hard to come by. Real estate investors have used this strategy for years to purchase many houses.

If you are looking for rent to own homes, it may be an arduous task since a lot of people do not know how it is done. In this situation, you should talk to the owner and explain to them the benefits of rent to own homes and get them to go along with it.

To begin your search for rent to own homes, start online. There are many sites that cater to helping people find homes. Check out the sites that are selling homes by owner. That way you can deal directly with the owner and talk to them about rent to own homes.

When you decide to rent to own a home, there are many ways in which you can bargain. Try to get the owner to reduce your down payment, the monthly rent, or the final buying price of the home.

Once you rent to own homes, you have to take care of the property just as though it was your own home. When the contractual period ends and you decide not to get a loan and purchase the home, you will not be able to recover your down payment or and of the extra rent that you paid.

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