Monday, 21 March 2011

Lease Option Homes Can Be Beneficial to Both Buyer and Seller

By Peter Conway


Many people advise against selling a home during a down market. But there is a way around it and it's called lease option homes. With this alternative, you can sell your home even during an unfavorable financial climate and still get the best price. What's more, a seller can acquire extra income off the sale. Lease options basically involve renting or leasing your property to a tenant with an option to buy it at a future date. Before the agreement is signed by the two parties, the future price of the home is guaranteed to be fixed. To be able to buy the option, the potential buyer has to make an upfront payment.

Disposing of your property through a lease option arrangement means you need to find tenants willing to remain in your property for an agreed period and buy it afterwards. Generally, tenant buyers are people who wish to own their own home but do not have the financial capability to do so. The most typical grounds for their inability to complete a home purchase is lack of financing. Lease option homes are practically for them.

Once you can locate such prospect, you can begin to assess the candidate and see if they are indeed appropriate for the lease option scheme. First of all, you need to find out if they are economically stable. Are they currently employed? Do they have consistency in their employment history? Are they prompt in paying their monthly rental dues? Are they taking care of your property the way you do? If you answered yes to each question, then you've got what you're looking for. Now, all you have to do is take care of the primary aspects and then draw up a contract.

For those of you who have yet to find such tenants, here are other ways to locate them. When you list your home, you should definitely specify that you are selling your property through a lease purchase option. Or, you can also list your home as a rent to own. Following these procedures are most likely to generate many inquiries from possible tenant buyers. Make sure to check online for the various websites that give you the opportunity to post your lease option ad. When you find a potential tenant buyer, make sure to perform a background check and find good references. After which, make sure to pre-qualify your potential buyer by consulting with a loan officer or broker who will discuss with your prospect the opportunity of them acquiring a mortgage at the end of the lease term. Though it's not a compulsory step, you need to give your future buyer a seller's disclosure form. This will provide integrity to your binding agreement. Once you have covered all aspects and have signed the contract, you can then be ensured of getting excellent value for your property and a regular income as well.

Lease options offer numerous other benefits for sellers. Most of them often get higher prices for their properties than they would get in a regular transaction. They can also collect monthly payments that are higher when compared with ordinary lease. In addition, they don't need to pay their home loan repayments with their own money since their tenants will be providing them with funds for the monthly dues. Other than that, when their tenant buyer cannot exercise the option to buy the house at the agreed date, they get to keep it.

Lease option homes appeal to many potential buyers. Therefore, if you wish to sell your property, do it through a lease option. Both seller and buyer can enjoy the benefits of lease options. You, the seller, are ensured of excellent value for your property along with a monthly income. On the other hand, the buyer can be secure with the thought that the lease option alternative will be his way to owning his own property.




About the Author:



No comments: