Anyone know anything about real estate?

[jackass]

I am looking into buying a house. My credit pretty much sucks. I am looking at a rent to own. I have found one where the owner is pretty new at it. Just looking for advice from someone who may know what to look out for and maybe tell them the guidelines for the rental.

[April15]

Realtor.

[truthmatters]

I am looking into buying a house. My credit pretty much sucks. I am looking at a rent to own. I have found one where the owner is pretty new at it. Just looking for advice from someone who may know what to look out for and maybe tell them the guidelines for the rental.


I sugest you rent some place cheap and save in an account the extra money you would have spent on the rent to own property. Then PAY ALL YOUR BILLS ON TIME! Then when yhou have sone money and better credit buy a house.

[jackass]

I sugest you rent some place cheap and save in an account the extra money you would have spent on the rent to own property. Then PAY ALL YOUR BILLS ON TIME! Then when yhou have sone money and better credit buy a house.

That would be easy if I didnt have school age kids to think about. :)

[glockmail]

I sugest you rent some place cheap and save in an account the extra money you would have spent on the rent to own property. Then PAY ALL YOUR BILLS ON TIME! Then when yhou have sone money and better credit buy a house.

This is good advice. When I bought my first house my credit was less than great and it was a pain in the ass. Now I rank around 800 or so and I call the shots when negotiating for the lowest rate possible.

Jackass: Careful with rent-to-owns. Hire a lawyer to review the contract. I guy built a house in my neighborhood, tried to get me on the deal, on a much bigger house than I knew I could afford. In 5 years he bankrupted two families that went for it.

[Cheyenne]

I've never done a "rent to own" but I did buy my first house on land contract, which I guess is rather similar.

We met at a lawyer's office who'd drawn up the contract. I had my lawyer go to to look over the contract to make sure there wasn't anything in it that wasn't proper or anything that I didn't understand. It stated the price & that if I missed 2 or 3 payments the property would revert back to the owners.
I received a payment statement from the bank and the monthly payment went directly into the seller's bank account set up for this. I got the deed when the house was paid for.

[Said1]

Good advice from both. Even from another country, I haven't heard any good stories about rent-to-own. I'd avoid it without serious legal advise.

[jackass]

Thanks to all. He seems to be as green about it as I am.

[glockmail]

Thanks to all. He seems to be as green about it as I am.
when I sold my first house I learned a valuable lesson. The house was on the market for 9 months and was bleeding us financially. This guy offers us about 15 or 20% less than we were asking. We countered and he basically told us: I found another house available within my budget. I like yours better but am only willing to pay my initial offer. But just to show you I'm not a hard-ass I'll come up another 1% or so, but its my final offer." It really stung us, but we had to take the offer.

But when I bought my next house I used the same technique, found a house that had been on the market for 18 months, and made up what we had lost by a huge factor. I even had some of my new neighbors complaing that I had devalued their home by scoring such a low-ball.

The lesson here is to keep your options open, don't fall in love with the house, and take advantage of a buyers market.

And right now we are in a buyers market.

[jackass]

I am not in love witrh the house but the situation seems pretty good to me.

[Kathianne]

when I sold my first house I learned a valuable lesson. The house was on the market for 9 months and was bleeding us financially. This guy offers us about 15 or 20% less than we were asking. We countered and he basically told us: I found another house available within my budget. I like yours better but am only willing to pay my initial offer. But just to show you I'm not a hard-ass I'll come up another 1% or so, but its my final offer." It really stung us, but we had to take the offer.

But when I bought my next house I used the same technique, found a house that had been on the market for 18 months, and made up what we had lost by a huge factor. I even had some of my new neighbors complaing that I had devalued their home by scoring such a low-ball.

The lesson here is to keep your options open, don't fall in love with the house, and take advantage of a buyers market.

And right now we are in a buyers market.

I have to agree, it IS a buyer's market. Get a downpayment, 15-20% will do. Then hardball it. You'll get a lot more house, fixed rate. 'Rent to buy' sounds close to 0% financing, not good in a market heading down as of late.

[glockmail]

I am not in love witrh the house but the situation seems pretty good to me.

You will also find out, quite pleasantly, that you will get a nice tax break from Uncle Sam as a homeowner. I did the math, and on my first house my $1000 mortgage payment was comparable to a $750 rent payment. :coffee:

[jackass]

You will also find out, quite pleasantly, that you will get a nice tax break from Uncle Sam as a homeowner. I did the math, and on my first house my $1000 mortgage payment was comparable to a $750 rent payment. :coffee:

That is why I want to buy so badly. Renting is just throwing money away.

As far as I can see there isnt too much at risk for me to do it. Guess I will have to sleep on it.

[Pale Rider]

Watch out for Land Contracts too. Interest rates on those can kill you, as well as they usually require a hefty down payment like 10%.

Check this out. (http://www.hud.gov/buying/index.cfm)

[glockmail]

That is why I want to buy so badly. Renting is just throwing money away.

As far as I can see there isnt too much at risk for me to do it. Guess I will have to sleep on it. Get out a 1040 and do a quick comparison renting vs buying. You'll find that you can pay a higher interest rate or offer points (enticing a bank to accept you as a risk) and still save money over renting. Then after you establish credit, fix up the house a bit, and the market improves, your goal should be to get at least 20% equity in the place. At that point "you da man" and can refinance into a better rate.

[PostmodernProphet]

talk to local realtors about mortgage foreclosure properties that might be available....banks have a long supply and are willing to discount to get rid of inventory....around here I have seen houses selling for 200k that had 250k outstanding mortgages......

[PostmodernProphet]

I am looking into buying a house. My credit pretty much sucks. I am looking at a rent to own. I have found one where the owner is pretty new at it. Just looking for advice from someone who may know what to look out for and maybe tell them the guidelines for the rental.

word of realism.....you say your credit sucks.....at what point in the future will your credit not suck?.....a typical rent to own is one or two years at the most.....if within that time you cannot expect to get bank financing, then you will benefit nothing from the lease to own.....

look for a land contract with a long enough balloon that you can cure your credit history....or put every effort you have into curing it first......

[manu1959]

That is why I want to buy so badly. Renting is just throwing money away.

As far as I can see there isnt too much at risk for me to do it. Guess I will have to sleep on it.

ask the guy to write up the purchase deal.....then get an attorney that knows what he is doing to review it .....

rent to own means ..... how much of your rent goes to buy the house...how much does the guy get as rent....who pays the current mortgage....insurance....property taxes.....who gets the write off on the mortgage.....it is much more complicated than just a rent check.....and some day you will own the house......

[Yurt]

Good stuff here. Anyone know about first time homeowner tax breaks or incentives?

[Mr. P]

ask the guy to write up the purchase deal.....then get an attorney that knows what he is doing to review it .....

rent to own means ..... how much of your rent goes to buy the house...how much does the guy get as rent....who pays the current mortgage....insurance....property taxes.....who gets the write off on the mortgage.....it is much more complicated than just a rent check.....and some day you will own the house......

and MUCH riskier that just fixing your credit first.

If this guy fails to pay the current mortgage and the bank forecloses yer SOL..
He has all your $$$ and you have < than 30 days to vacate.

[82Marine89]

First things first, Contest all negative items on all three of your credit reports. The reporting parties have 30 days to prove it or they have to remove it. This alone will improve your FICO score. If your credit is bad enough that it needs further improvement, you could also search out a local bank in your area and take out a secured loan using the proceeds of the loan as collateral. Not all banks are willing to do this, but it keeps you from having to come up with a lump sum amount for the collateral. If a bank is willing to do it, then all you have to do is a monthly payment and collect your money back at the end of the loan. It sounds like a lot of work, but it shows that you can repay a loan. After that, think about purchasing a house, not a rent to own.