[jane032657]

We are moving in a month to our new home in TV. Our farmhouse has not yet sold and we are looking at also advertising a lease to own with options for two years where you get a down payment of about 10%, the lesee pays a monthly lease fee equal to a 30 yr low interest mortgage rate and at the end of two years has built up some equity in part from their monthly payment which is saved for them toward down payment, as well as their original down payment provided and can purchase the home. If they choose to not purchase they lose their downpayment. Our preference is to sell but we are looking at this option so as not to leave the house vacant. Does anyone have experience with this and would you be wiling to either share it here or PM me? Curious how the end turned out and if the people did not purchase after the lease term, what condition was your house in? Did you take out renters insurance with extra riders in case the place was trashed? That sort of info and whatever else you can offer, thanks! There are a lot of people making great incomes in Seattle who have bad credit because of divorce, other circumstances so this is one way for them to get back into the market without really high interest rates and to earn a better credit report moving forward. Trying to think of all possibilties to not leave our house vacant and not have a typical lease. Would love to hear some success stories too!!! Are there any?

[gomoho]

As a former REALTOR my recommendation is to have an attorney draw up the lease.

[jane032657]

Originally Posted by gomoho

As a former REALTOR my recommendation is to have an attorney draw up the lease.

But have you seen success with this alternative?

[casita37]

We are currently doing exactly that with a property we own. Our buyers bought one of our properties, with a traditional bank loan, so we felt good about their credit. Also, we got to know them quite well over the course of working out the details and selling them the first property. We entered into the deal last November. So far, so good! We did have an attorney draw it up.

We will do it again, in the future, on other property. You can get a much better return on your money than other investments, plus it's better than renting it out because the "buyer" is responsible for repairs, etc. (assuming that is how the contract is written).

Oh...our down payment was sizeable enough that we feel covered in case of damage.

[jane032657]

Originally Posted by casita37

We are currently doing exactly that with a property we own. Our buyers bought one of our properties, with a traditional bank loan, so we felt good about their credit. Also, we got to know them quite well over the course of working out the details and selling them the first property. We entered into the deal last November. So far, so good! We did have an attorney draw it up.

We will do it again, in the future, on other property. You can get a much better return on your money than other investments, plus it's better than renting it out because the "buyer" is responsible for repairs, etc. (assuming that is how the contract is written).

Oh...our down payment was sizeable enough that we feel covered in case of damage.

Thank you, yes this is the scenario we would like to have if we do not sell, so we are putting this immediately as an optionon the MLS listing. If our agent does not find someone for us in a week or two, we will probably cancel our listing and try ourselves. I appreciate your sharing of your experience.