Whether you are a home seller, a real estate agent or a real estate investor you should be using Craigslist to advertise your home as a lease option or rent to own.  I do almost all my advertising exclusively on Craigslist now and generate tons of good rent to own buyer leads.

It's free, it's easy and the competition (at least in my area) is low.  Buyer's look here though and it has served as a powerful lead generator.

Here are two sample ads I have used:

Ad 1:

$2195/4 BR - Great Home on Rent to Own (Wayne)

A great home in Wayne on a Lease Option/Rent to Own.  Call today to find out more how I can help you.  I help buyers find lease options or contract for deed homes.  Working with buyers that have credit issues is my specialty.  Own a home even if you need some time to improve your credit.  STOP RENTING!  There are no fees to you for my service. Wendy at Keller Williams Realty, you can email me at wendy@wendypatton.com - You will need a minimum of $10,000 to get into a home with this type of transaction.  I look forward to working with you soon to buy your new home.

Ad 2:

$1695/3 BR - 3/2/2 in Great Area - Lease Option (Clifton)

Clifton great home with 3 bdrms, 2 baths, and a 2 car garage.  Nice area.  Lease to own with $7,500 down.  Credit problems ok.  My specialty is working with buyers who have less than perfect credit   There is no fee to you.  Email me today, Wendy at Keller Williams, wendy@wendypatton.com

Both of these ads have drawn solid responses from lease option buyers.  If you are a real estate agent or a lease option investor you can use these ads even if you don't have a lease option home available yet.  Once you get the buyer leads then you can find a lease option home that works for them.

I did a big post yesterday on becoming a Realtor, looking at the pros (many) and cons (next to none in my opinion).  But I left out one of the biggest, most important reasons for becoming a real estate agent when you are doing lease option investing - Networking.

Lease option homes are by and large pretty homes.  The pretty home market is pretty much controlled by real estate agents.  When I say controlled, I mean that they are the ones doing the massive majority of the listings for these homes.  With that being the case you need to make real estate agents your friends to get deals in your pipeline.  Becoming a Realtor gives you an inside track.  For one thing you can start networking with other agents in the brokerage where you have your license.

Then you can expand out to other offices from there.  Just ask people in your office if they know of other agents who might have a home that isn't selling where the seller told the agent that if it doesn't sell they might have to rent their home.  Those agents are bound to know other agents that have mentioned something like that to them.

In lease option investing all it really takes is a handful of good networked real estate agents to keep your deal pipeline full.

I recommend you become licensed and consider Keller Williams as an office for you.  I will gladly sponsor you and also assist you in working as a Realtor.  I can help you get started in the right direction. I have been licensed over 20 years.  Let them know I am your sponsor and we can work together to help you as an investor and also to assist you to recruit other investors (Realtors) in your team.  Please email me to find the closest Keller Williams office to you.  Wendy@WendyPatton.com or call me at 248-394-0767 and I will assist you in making a great choice for your future.