Can’t Get a Mortgage? Consider a Rent-to-Own Deal
Having bad credit can keep you from qualifying for a home loan. But that doesn’t mean you can’t work toward becoming a homeowner. Consider renting a house that gives you an option to buy it.
What Is a Lease-Option?
A rent-to-own or lease-option deal allows you to rent a home and pay extra each month toward purchasing the property at a later date for a specific price. When you sign the lease the seller requires you to pay an option fee of up to 5% of the purchase price.
Lease-options specify a period of time that you have to decide whether or not to actually buy the property. If you don’t excercise your option to purchase the home, you lose the option fee and the additional money paid toward the purchase.
Why Rent-to-Own?
A rent-to-own deal can allow you “try out” a house and neighborhood before committing to buying property there. Also, if you can’t get a mortgage loan because of bad credit, a lease-option gives you time to save up money for a down payment. You also can work on cleaning up bad credit, although rent payments are not factored into the credit scoring formula, according to the Mortgage Professor. Having good credit and a hefty down payment improves the chances of a mortgage lender giving you a home loan down.
Deals Can Backfire
Use caution when entering into a rent-to-own deal. Make sure you understand all the terms and use an attorney to review the contract. Some problems that can derail your plans to buy a home this way include losing your option fee and rent payments by falling behind on rent payments. The deal also dies (and you lose the money) if you get evicted. Make sure that any home you lease-option isn’t in the foreclosure process so you don’t lose your money.
Falling Home Values
Also keep in mind that signing a lease-option contract could backfire if real-estate prices continue to drop. The home’s value could fall below the purchase price by the time you actually have to make a decision to buy it. A recent report by Fiserv and Moody’s Economy.com said the average home price in the U.S. is likely to fall 6% by 2011.
Lease-options can work in your favor if you know what you’re doing. But don’t get in over your head just because you are too eager to buy a house when you really can’t afford one. You can rent a place while taking the time to repair credit and save up a down payment without getting into a contract that could result in losing your shirt.
Tags: home loan, mortgage, mortgage loan
