Although owning a house is one of the most powerful ways to increasing your wealth and stability, many people are unable to obtain the necessary financing or make the full commitment based on varying circumstances. This is why considering a rent-to-own program may be right for you.


These programs will typically offer a lower initial down payment and monthly rent credits which will be applied to the purchase price, freedom to make minor repairs or updates to the current property, and the ability to help improve credit while investing in the home that you would have an option to buy at the end of the term.


Some options a buyer would have to acquire the necessary funds for a down payment would be through the use of savings, borrowing from a family member, income tax refunds, or investment plans. Another benefit to the program is that you are not obligate to buy at the end of the term. This offers you flexibility and peace of mind if circumstances were to change for any reason.

There are many ways to find a home for lease purchase and the way you find one will depend on how you do your deal. For people who can find investors on their own to purchase the home and act as the lessor, finding a house could be as simple as choosing the house they want and then having the investor move in for the purchase. However, the vast majority of people don’t have access to these kinds of ideal financiers. In this case, you can often find homes that are either for sale by owners as lease-purchases or have been bought by investors specifically to be used as lease purchases.

The first places to check are the standard places you’d like for any real estate investment. Check with your local agency, as they may have contacts with sellers looking to enter into a lease purchase agreement. Also check your local newspaper, as often times there are ads from sellers looking to find lessees. Craigslist is another excellent place to check, as most major cities have well populated real estate sections full of available properties. However, there are other avenues you can take as well. Social media is one of them.

Sites like Facebook and applications like Twitter can all help you in your search. Facebook has its own market place which often has real estate ads up. But don’t ignore the option of simply posting your desire to find a lease purchase to your Facebook wall or Twitter account. Broadcasting your intentions to your network can often bring forward people you know who have connections with sellers looking for a lease purchase arrangement, or who may themselves have a property available.

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In the current economy, selling a home can be tough (let alone selling it for the full asking price) and many home owners would like to sell their properties, but simply can’t. Many never even consider a lease purchase arrangement instead, although they probably should. There are very serious advantages to lease purchase arrangements for those looking to sell their homes, and for many potential sellers, a lease purchase might be the best option for both them and their potential buyers.

The main advantage to a lease purchase agreement is that it can help you get your full asking price for the home (although a bit in the future) and in the meantime, you can often collect a higher than average rent than you would by simply renting your property through a traditional rental agreement. Basically, when you offer a lease purchase, you’re offering the lessee (and future buyer) a very attractive financing option, and that in turn benefits you through the amount of rent you collect as lease payments and the final price you collect upon purchase at the end of the lease term.

You also collect a deposit from the renter/lessee which is non-refundable. This means that at the end of the lease term, if the lessee is unable to or opts not to purchase the property for the pre-arranged purchase price, you continue to own the property and can then begin the process all over again, rent traditionally or sell to another buyer. This means the risk to the lessor/renter is very low, since just about any way you slice it, there is a profit made.

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Yes, lease purchase is simply a different name (among many) used to describe the same scenario in which a renter (or lessee) has an existing agreement in place where at the end of the lease period (or rental term) there is a set price option at which the lessee or renter has the right of first refusal to purchase the property. In many situations (although not in all, and not necessarily) part of each month’s rent or lease payment also goes towards the purchase price of the house, while the majority goes to cover the mortgage costs of the owner/investor who is leasing or renting the house out to the lessee/renter.

This type of arrangement is often beneficial to both parties in that the investor stands to profit from the arrangement whether the renter buys the property at the end or not, and the renter or lessee gets to live in the house of their choice with the locked in option to buy it at a predetermined price, meaning that they can live in and potentially own the house of their choice even though at the current time they are not able to afford the purchase. This kind of arrangement is especially beneficial for “permanent renters” or people who were planning to rent anyways, but only because they cannot afford to buy and are planning on staying in the area in the long-term anyway.

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