| The arrangement in which property owners offer | | | | lawyer wherever possible, before signing onto the |
| prospective house buyers access to the so called | | | | dotted line. |
| 'rent to own' homes arrangement is proving to a | | | | The main thing you should be on the lookout for |
| popular one, at a time when the real estate market | | | | when going through the rent to own paperwork is |
| is going through a rough stretch. | | | | injurious clauses in the agreement. These tend to |
| The way the arrangement works is really quite simple | | | | creep in the part of the rent to own home |
| to grasp. The prospective house buyer gets into an | | | | agreement that deals with what is to happen should |
| agreement with the house owner to rent the house | | | | one party be unable to proceed with the rent to |
| for a given period time (hence effectively getting | | | | own homes deal. Typical victims to the catches |
| into a lease), under prior agreement that at the end | | | | found here are the prospective house tenants, who |
| of the lease period, when the when the house seller | | | | in highly flawed rent to own homes agreements, can |
| puts it up for sale, it is they, the prospective buyers | | | | find themselves losing the portion of their monthly |
| who have been renting the property, who will get | | | | rent that was being assigned as down payment for |
| the opportunity to purchase it. Typical lease periods | | | | the house - should they opt not to purchase the |
| for this arrangement are three years long, though | | | | property, after all. In the worst cases, this can mean |
| longer or shorter leases for rent to own homes are | | | | a loss of what can turn out to be a huge sum of |
| not altogether unheard of. | | | | money. On the side of the seller, the thing to be |
| To make the preferential right to own the house | | | | aware of in the rent to own homes paperwork is the |
| when the time for selling it comes have a basis in | | | | degree of preferential buying treatment the |
| natural law, the arrangement is usually tailored in such | | | | paperwork gives to the tenant; and ensure that it is |
| a way that the prospective house buyer, at this | | | | not injurious to you as the property owner - keeping |
| stage just a tenant, has a portion of what they pay | | | | in mind that trends in the real estate sector change |
| as rent going to the house owner as ordinary rental | | | | from time to time, and that by the time the lease |
| income, with another portion of it going to the house | | | | ends and the property comes up for sale, winds |
| owner as deposit for the house, so that when the | | | | might have changed. |
| time for the purchase of the house finally comes, the | | | | Of course, while going through the rent to own |
| prospective house owner does not have to make a | | | | homes paperwork with a toothcomb, it is essential to |
| down payment on it. This way, there is commitment | | | | keep in mind that agreements of this type are |
| on both sides for the sell and purchase of the | | | | always tilted in favor of one side (this is one of the |
| property when time for the sale comes. | | | | harsh realities of life we have to live with). What is |
| While the rent to own homes arrangement does | | | | essential though, is for you to avoid getting into an |
| offer a number of advantages to both parties in it, it | | | | agreement that is so fundamentally flawed as to |
| does come with a number of potential pitfalls, and | | | | injure your most basic of interests in the whole deal. |
| herein lies the need for you as either the house | | | | Such fundamentally flawed deals are best avoided, |
| buyer or house owner to review the paperwork | | | | whatever their other attractions might be. |
| involved in the transaction carefully, with aid of your | | | | |