Buyers of Lease-To-Own Need to Research Property and Seller

Whether you're a buyer who suffered a foreclosure not long ago or you're a long-time renter interested in becoming a homeowner, the lease-to-own option may be good for you. I've written about this before (see my Lease to Buy May Be Good Option column) but a reader recently emailed me wondering where to find these rent-to-own properties. That question caused me take a closer look at this niche market. Here's what I found.

Wendy Patton, author of Rent to Buy, due out this month, talked to me about how to find the rent-to-buy properties and why potential buyers should research not only the property but the seller as well.

Patton recommends looking through Craigslist or the newspaper to find the properties. "I just call up owners [of properties for rent] and talk to them about their home," says Patton. She says your real estate agent can help with this process. Patton finds that many landlords whose properties are for rent actually would consider selling.

"Depending on where you are located in the country, 30 percent to 50 percent would say yes they would," says Patton.

Patton says that homes that have been on the market more than 120 days are a good starting place. She says buyers and their agents should investigate to make sure that the property is not upside down or an REO (real estate owned by the bank). "Banks don't do that yet but some of them might be starting to," says Patton.

The other thing Patton says to check is to see if the home is vacant. Of course, if a home is vacant that can put pressure on homeowners to consider a rent-to-own option. "Most of the time if the [homeowner] has already moved and they're not upside down, they obviously didn't have to sell to move so they're a perfect candidate to be a seller on a lease option or rent to own.

"They need to make sure the seller is not upside down. How do they confirm that? By looking at the mortgage statement through getting a mortgage authorization statement. … They need to make sure that the seller is not in foreclosure or going to go into foreclosure during that option period," says Patton. She says this is critical so that the buyers' payments are protected during the time that they are renting with the option to buy. Patton says buyers need to make certain "that the payment that they're making every month is going to be protected to go against that mortgage as a payment. In other words, instead of just paying the seller directly, maybe they should be paying the lender directly or through a third party that's going to pay the lender so that during that option period it's not swept out from underneath them in foreclosure," says Patton.

"Unfortunately, that's happened many times. Patton says, "The buyer gives the seller $10,000 or whatever the option is and then is making monthly payments when all of a sudden the sheriff shows up at their door and says 'You've got 24 hours to get out. The house has been foreclosed on." So even though the buyers were making payments to the seller, the sellers were not passing on the payments to the lender.

Other areas of concern are how repairs are handled. "Technically the seller is usually responsible for repairs if it's a rental but in a lease-to-own, it can be more equitably split. Maybe the buyer pays the first $500 and the seller pays anything over $500. The repairs are negotiable items," says Patton.

Inspections are absolutely necessary, says Patton. As with all home purchases, an inspection by a professional can help to expose any future problems with a property. The home inspection also allows buyers to identify trouble spots that they may want to use to negotiate repair procedures and price.

One other important consideration for renters interested in becoming buyers, whether you're doing a lease-to-own or not, is to use the rental period time to build or clean up your credit. "There's different credit repair companies that are reputable that can help them repair their credit," says Patton. She adds that it's vital to find a company that guarantees certain criteria that will be a benefit for the money they are spending in the credit repair program. Patton says before you begin a program do your research. "They have to have provisions of what the company is going to do for them and how the company is going to help their credit score". For more information on improving your credit score read my column called, What to do When Credit Card Debt is Keeping You Locked Out of Homeownership.

This article appeared in Realty Times
Written by: Phoebe

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