If your credit is damaged or you have been turned down for a conventional loan, the Rent 2 Own program could be just what you need. Many people would love to buy a home today while prices are super low. Unfortunately, the banks are being extraordinarily tight about loaning money.

If you've had financial trouble that damaged your credit score, rent 2 own is still possible once the financial problem is behind you. The Rent 2 Own Program can be a win-win for the buyer and the seller.

Rent 2 Own is the Seller's Option in A Buyer's Market

Rent 2 own is the program sellers are turning to because they can't sell their property in today' very slow market. Homes sit on the market for 90 or 120 days without an interested buyer making an offer. It's definitely a buyers' market and you should take advantage while prices remain down. Prices will go up, they always do.

Landlords and real estate investors are more sophisticate when it comes to understanding what it takes to succeed in this down market. They have come to understand that offering seller financing through the Rent 2 Own Program dramatically increases their chances of selling the property. When buyers can't get financing, the way landlords and investors sell properties is by offering seller financing, affectionately known as the Rent 2 Own Program.

Rent 2 Own Get's Buyer's the Home They Want While Prices are Low

As the buyer, you have the option to buy at any time up to a predetermined date through the Rent 2 Own Program. You can rent the house for a month, six months, or two years. You have a set price you can buy for up until the date your option to buy expires. With the rent 2 Own Program, the buyer is in control. You set the purchase price today with an option to buy in the future. If the house value rises, you'd be well advised to exercise your option. If the market value of the house decreases, you're not locked into buying. As the Rent 2 Own buyer, you have all the upside and none of the downside.

Rent 2 Own Program has many benefits for the buyer:

• Full control of the home. You can learn if there are maintenance issues or if your family is a good fit with the home before fully committing to buy.
• The buyer is able to live in the neighborhood to see if they like it without committing to staying there long term through the Rent 2 Own Program.
• The Rent 2 Own Program can be your ticket to getting your children into a better school district.
• Credit problems and difficulty documenting income are not obstacles to owning a home with the Rent 2 Own Program.
• Grow equity in the house before you buy it. Often, a portion of the rent payment is credited towards the down payment or equity in the home when you exercise the option.

It's a win-win because the seller benefits as well:

• The seller has a tenant with a vested interest in keeping the property in good repair.
• The seller has rental income to cover the mortgage and maybe a little more through the Rent 2 Own Program.
• Opening to a market of buyers with less than stellar credit dramatically increases the number of possible buyers.

Both buyers and sellers can make lemonade out of this difficult real estate market with the Rent 2 Own Program.

Please leave comments or ask questions below.

I have not blogged in sometime and I have not looked for my own rent to buy deals for sometime, until this past weekend. I realized that making deals and structuring rent to buy deals is something I really love. Real estate investing is in my blood - especially rent to buy deals. Rent to buy deals are also the most profitable thing I can do right now.

I looked at approximately 15 homes and made offers on 5! As an investor, it's highly unusual to find that high of percentage of houses to make offers on in that short of time. It just goes to show how hot the current market is for investors. The rent to buy market is just as hot!

 

Rent to Buy Deals on the MLS

Here is one deal that I found this weekend - right on the MLS!

$34,000 - brick home with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, basement and garage. It has good schools and in an all brick area. It is NOT in the hood or in Detroit at all. I can rent this home for around $1100 per month or do a rent to buy for around $99,000. So? Why am I not doing more of these rent to buy deals? Great question! I am kicking myself right now, as I haven't done enough rent to buy deals lately.

But I'm back in the saddle both doing my own deals and sharing with students and readers here on my blog. Just as I thought, this is a great time to be investing. It's a buyers' market with the added benefit of being great to rent or flip houses with a rent to buy program.

Might be a Round Trip With This Rent to Buy House

I also put an offer in on one for $27,000 that I sold about 7 years ago for $132,000. Imagine doing so many deals that you start to buy back your old inventory . I could sell that one on a rent to buy contract for close to $100,000.

So you might ask, "Why would someone sell it to me for that low price?" Cash is the secret weapon in today's market. Very few buyers can make all cash offers. Distressed sellers want to sell now. They could accept multiple offers for considerably more than my offered but their chance of closing the deal is slim.

In today's market, the seller has two big challenges when it comes to a financing contingency. First, lending standards are so tight with banks that most people can't qualify for a loan. That's part of the reason there are so few buyers in the market. Of course, most realtors require a buyer to prequalify before they'll spend time showing houses.

So, you would think the buyers in the market would make a similar low ball offer to what I made and the seller would accept the higher of the two, knowing the other buyer is prequalified. Nope, cash is still king. When you can buy with cash, you can run a very profitable rent to buy program.

You see, those with a financing contingency need to have the house appraised. Lender appraisals are like the loan standards. Appraisals are very conservative now and some even assume the market has not found the bottom. So again, the financing contingency is not a sure deal for the seller.

On the other hand, my all cash offers have no financing contingency and don't require an appraisal. And there's no lender anywhere in the deal. It's just me and the seller. We can close the deal in two or three days if the seller needs to get out that fast. And I can move on to my next rent to buy deal.

I hope several of my offers get accepted. I'm excited to turn them into rent to buy deals.

I also have a Realtor team if you want one of these rent to buy deals yourself - let me know. There are enough out there for you also.