What’s the Deal with Rent-to-Own?

Rent-to-Own. Sounds simple enough. Rent something until it’s time to own it. Well, it doesn’t always work as simple as it seems that it should. As a Realtor, I get a lot of clients asking me about Rent-to-Own. I think most renters feel more comfortable approaching home ownership in this manner because the word is still involved. And this will give them time to wrap their head around the fact that they will actually your own home and you just kinda went in the back door by renting first. I think a lot of renters who are credit-challenged feel more comfortable with this approach as well because they may feel that they don’t have to rush and repair their credit and they can still get a house. 

I’m sorry to burst your bubble because I have never seen in this area a successful rent-to-own home successfully completed. I have heard of these type of deals started however I have never seen them successfully completed with the person who rented actually end up owning the property. I have seen the renter start the process then have to move out about 3 months before the contract is to be executed for one reason or another such as a family member needing to move in or some other type of emergency. You have paid all of your money with the intention of home ownership but it doesn’t happen and you didn’t get any of that money back.

The Solution to this scenario is simple – Talk to your Realtor who can suggest some mortgage reps for you to choose to work with or find your own mortgage rep to work with to Actually fix your credit and get it where it needs to be in order to secure a mortgage. Or if you have cashby all means then pay cash for your home and you won’t have to qualify for a mortgage. However, you still need to and you should make  fixing your credit a priority.

At the end of the day if you don’t deal with your credit, your credit will deal with you. You’ll always pay more for the same things that the rest of us who have better credit pay less for so get to work and fix your credit. If I can be of service, don’t hesitate to let me know.