Leasing to Buy a Home

I am a realtor and am currently in this situation on my own home. The actual lease needs to be drawn up by an attorney as each situation is different. Some leases are just strictly leases until they are able to purchase the home, some leases provide for a certain amount to be held in escrow each month to cover closing costs or down payment (typically an amount above the mortgage payment). I am typically a bit more wary of owners that will owner finance and do a lease to buy situation. These situations are entirely in the owners favor and many will provide for no flexibility. If you need help in finding something let me know!

As said earlier it is an iffy proposition. IF you do do a lease, have an attorney and have your payments go to an escrow account in a bank that has the information for the loan and if the buyer doesn't want to do one, don't do it. Better to protect yourself than to lose everything and be forced to move in a moment's notice. Who can do that now days unless they have nothing in the house like furniture and such.

I've known two people who got burned from this type of 'deal'. My friend did this with her hubby, and come to find out the house that they had been paying on was never formally presented as a lease-to-own. So all of their payment history was never reported and the lady still owned the house. Basically, they were just renters getting a raw deal.

The same thing happened to my brother. Nothing with their name was ever in writing, and the guy who legally owned the house and decided to sell it, and not to my brother. He and his family were forced to move and all of the money they paid to 'own' this home went down the drain. Over-glorified renters again.

If I may suggest, have you tried CTX Mortgage? I highly recommend Rodney Anderson and his team. We're living in our brand new house thanks to them. Goodluck!

Just make sure you get an attorney to look at it...I work for a real estate attorney and we do title closings here...I have seen lots that are very good and protect both buyer and seller and I have seen those that were only out to protect the seller because the buyer didn't get legal help. This is one of those times when an attorney is a must..Better to spend a little on an attorney now than have to have one to fix a mess later on...also, make sure you go to a real estate attorney..
hope this helps and good luck

As stated in previous posts, lease to own is a risky proposition especially in this type of real estate market. You never heard of a seller taking off with the money years ago when the market was good. If you are going to use any of the rent towards the down payment, the only portion that can be used is what is greater than the market rent. For example, if the market rent for the area is 1000, and you are paying 900, none of the money you have paid can go towards down payment. If you are paying 1200, then 200 per month can go towards your down payment.

There are a couple of low down payment and no down payment options still available for financing your home. If you are in a rural area, Little Elm, Melissa, Anna you can use Guaranteed Rural Housing. In more urban areas, you can use a FHA loan with a down payment assistance grant. Some cities also offer down payment assistance for residents to purchase a home in the area. I am available if you have any additional questions. Good Luck

A friend of mine did this and I can only caution you to be very careful! She had an attorney draw up the papers and the review the lease agreement and all was going well for over a year - and then one day she came home from work and found a FORECLOSURE notice on her front door. She had paid her rent every month, but the landlord obviously hadn't been paying the mortage. She was forced to move out without any notice and her landlord was NOWHERE to be found. She lost everything. She couldn't find him to sue him. I would reconsider doing this. It took her awhile to recover from this experience. When she spoke with an attorney to find out what recourse she could take, he advised her that this happens OFTEN. Good luck to you.

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My parents did this years ago and I remember having to move out of that house quickly. Later on I found out that something happened when they went to appraise the house, the numbers didn't add up right, and my parents were basically going to get screwed (lack of a better term). Like the others have said I would make sure the paper work is done by an attorney and everything is legit.