One very interesting option for purchasing property is Rent-to-Own. Let’s take a look at it in more detail.
Understand What Rent-to-Own Means
Rent-to-own is where you take a property on rent for a specified period of time. After this period is over, you pay a price to buy the property, based on an agreement. You can find rent-to-own also being mentioned as lease-to-own option or a rent-to-purchase option.
What’s Included in a Rent-to-Own Agreement
Generally what you get in a rent-to-own home agreement is a two-part agreement which entails renting the property and then purchasing it at a later date, which will be specified in this agreement. These details are given in two sections – the lease section and a purchase option. In the lease section, you will be list out all renting details such as rent amount to be pay, the date on which you have to pay the rent, the period for which rental amount must be paid and son on. The purchase option gives details on the opportunity of purchasing the home sometime in the future, on a date that has been agreed to, by both parties to the agreement.
About Features Applicable in a Rent-To-Own Agreement
There are three things that you have to concern yourself with in a Rent-to-Own Agreement. These are Rent Credit, Option Fee, and And Rent Premium.
When you get into such an agreement, you have to pay an option fee and a rent premium. If you decide to buy the house at the end of the agreement term, the option fee will become part of the home’s down payment. In case you decide not to buy the home, this option fee is not refundable to you.
In addition to option fee, you will also be paying what is called – rent premium. This is an amount that’s a bit more than the rent and it goes towards paying the home’s down payment.
Every month that you pay rent, rewards you with rent credits. These will be added to your option fees and will be used as part of your down payment.
Advantages for the buyer
There are several advantages to buying property through a Rent-to-Own agreement. The first is that your purchase is unaffected by market trends. So, even if the prices were to rise considerably, you will be paying only the amount that you agreed upon in your rent-to-own agreement. This is a huge financial benefit as you can get a great bargain at times when prices are soaring.
During the rent period, you will be paying option fees and rent premiums, which contributes towards the down payment on the property. This reduces the amount you have to pay at the time of purchase and furthermore, you are actually using the rent period in a very useful manner in contributing towards the home purchase payments.
Finally, though the purpose of a rent-to-own home is to buy property at the end of the rental period, there is no compulsion for you to do this. Should some unforeseen circumstances make you change your mind, you can also go without making the purchase.
Advantages for the Seller
Up to this point, we have been look at rent-to-own homes from the point of view of the buyer. There are lots of advantages for the person who decides to sell their house this way. The person to whom the property is rented out will look into aspects such as maintenance and general upkeep, and they will be doing it with special interest as they will become the property owner.
If the renter opts not to purchase in the end, the owner has the right to keep the Option Fee and Rent Premium. There are several tax benefits in selling property this way as well.
Points to Consider
In a rent-to-own situation both the buyer and the seller have to be aware of certain points. Firs of all, the buyer has to keep in mind that should they decide not to buy property, they are on the losing side of the deal. The amounts paid towards down payment will not be given to them. The seller has to consider the fact that if real estate prices were to rise they would be selling their house at a lower rate and their profit margin would be lesser as such.