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 must get my asking price or I'm not selling"

Every lease option investor will hear this objection from a home seller at some point during their lease option investing career.  Probably one of the most common challenges is getting the seller from "La-La Land" to reality!

Sellers usually think rigidly about pricing - they have a specific figure in their head and they don't want to budge from that.

First you need to verify that their asking price is within true market value, not just for right now, but for where you market is likely to be at the end of the lease option period.  This is particularly true for declining markets.  The best way to do this is do get accurate comparables for the home.

The deal must be a win-win-win for you, the lease option seller and the lease option buyer.  If the seller's asking price is too far out you'll need to show them the comparables and try to get them to acknowledge reality.

The most important thing to keep in mind when dealing with a seller who is fixated on price is to remember that you have a lot of other terms you can negotiate to still make the deal work for you.  Just make sure the seller has enough equity for the deal to work.

Give them their price, but make sure the option period is for a long time and get a high dollar amount on your monthly option credits.  If they don't want such a long lease option term than make sure your monthly payment is low (with full option credits) so that you can generate a high monthly cash flow.

Too many investors turn down a deal flat out if the seller's price won't work for them.  Just remember that you have plenty of choices with other terms when putting together a lease option deal.