Читать книгу Rent-to-Own: How to Find Rent-to-Own Homes NOW While Rebuilding Your Credit - Wendy Patton - Страница 9

While most other buyers are drowning in the “Credit Crunch”, you have a choice. Renting-to-own can allow you to buy your next home, even at a time when financing is so hard to obtain; but that’s not the only advantage it offers. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why rent-to-own can be beneficial for you:

1.Flexibility. This is key. If you live in an uncertain market, you have the ability to get into your home now and still have the flexibility whether or not you want to buy. For most of you, buying is what you truly want and should plan for. Not buying is your “get out of jail card” if things don’t go well for you personally. Don’t go into a rent-to-own without being serious about purchasing the home.

2.Time. The rental period gives you time to improve your credit score and pay off some other debts or save more towards a larger down payment. It’s very important to take advantage of this time by taking the proper steps. We will discuss credit repair in more detail later in the book.

3.Option Credits. One important negotiating point is having all or part of your monthly rental payment count as a credit against the final purchase price. This is called an Option Credit, and it can be an excellent way to increase your down payment and equity in your new home. For instance, if the rental payment is $1,200 per month and $600 of that gets applied towards buying the home (your option credit), you will build up $7,200 of equity for one year ($600 X 12 = $7,200). This will be covered in much more detail later in this book.

4.Sweat Equity. If you are a handyman and want to buy a fixer-upper home on a rent-to-own basis, you can build Sweat Equity in the home by making improvements while you are a renter. Once you purchase the home, these improvements will increase the appraised value of the home in comparison to your contracted purchase price. Having an equity spread (the home is worth more than you are buying it for) can be very helpful when you are obtaining financing. You will also want to consider asking the seller for option credits if you do certain repairs. For instance, if a repair is worth $3,000 but you can do it for $800, consider asking for a $3,000 credit from the seller. This would give you $2,200 in real value for your work, or sweat equity.