Frequently Asked Questions

- Everything I have is strictly rent to own. - Pets are allowed. - No questions are asked. - The move in process takes about a week (see below).

The money you put down (option fee) and your rent credit is converted to a down payment at the end of the lease. You have a choice of purchase terms:

Appraised Value This is the average of similar properties determined by a licensed real estate appraiser at the end of the lease. The benefit with this method is that the property will be purchased at a fair value. Set Price A price agreed by you and my partner(s). The benefit with this method is that there is no mystery to the sales price.

My partners and I have discovered that folks you put a bunch of money down with the intention of purchasing a home make better tenants. It will be your responsibility to work on your own credit to get qualified to purchase the home.

If you have more than half the option fee and the first monthly payment on hand, we can usually work something out. If you don't have enough money on hand, you should select a less expensive property. Buyer/tenants who fail the most are those who stretched themeselves too thin. Don't make the same mistake.

You can have any animal(s) unless there is a condo/town home restriction. Pit-bulls are not allowed. We have no issues with pit-bulls. We love pit-bulls! We don't care how well behaved your pit-bull is. Even if your pit-bull uses the toilet and serves tea with a bow-tie, we can't help you. The reason is because it's nearly impossible to get insurance for a home if a pit-bull is on the premises. After you qualify for you loan, you can wrestle with that insurance problem on your own

However, if you don't have the option fee on hand, you are wasting your time. DO NOT CALL ME UNLESS YOU HAVE MONEY ON HAND!

Most properties are flexible. Unless it's stated on the property page, it can be what ever you want. It is not in your best interest to have a long lease period. The sooner you qualify for a conventional loan, the more money you will save. Most people go for a one year lease. If your credit is over 600, one year is sufficient.

You want to keep money in the bank for a rainy day. You also need to get mentally ready for the mortgage. The monthly payments you see are usually less than your mortgage at the end of the lease. Click on the financial tab of each property to see what your estimated mortgage will be for that particular property.

You will want to work with my credit cleaning professional and a mortgage broker with a lot of experience. I will provide you with a list of people you can choose from OR you can use your own people. If you use your own people, they need to keep me posted on your progress. The key to your success is making payments on time, actively clean your credit, and make enough money to support the mortgage payments. Being late on your payments creates serious problems in getting you qualified.

You could lose your option fee and/or rent credits. It is important that you actively clean up your credit, make payments on time and make enough money to support the mortgage payments. Each property on my site gives you an estimated mortgage on that property. In most cases we will extend the contract but I don't recommend putting yourself at the mercy of someone. If you have problems paying your rent right now, you need to step away from this web site. If you can't pay your rent on time, you have no business owning a home. Don't even call me as you will be evicted when you miss more than one lease payment. Evicting people is the part of my job that I really hate and I don't mess around.

Every property shows you "about" what your mortgage will be. Generally speaking you will be paying $800 per $100k of house. A little less if you clean up your credit and make money, a little more if you have bad credit. Speak to a mortgage broker if you want an accurate answer. If you don't have a mortgage broker, call mine so you can get the straight facts based on the information you provide.

My partners and I don't want to share the tax benefits and don't want to spend the time creating trust funds with beneficiaries. It's too much of a headache and pretty much set in our ways.

As a rule, you will need between 10% - 20% down to get into one of these AND they are really hard to find. Best of luck.

Most of the properties we own need to be held for a year or so for tax or loan penalty reasons. If you qualify for a straight purchase, you are better off swooping in on a foreclosure than haggling for a lease/option on my web site. If you qualify for a loan and want someone to help you purchase a foreclosure, I will be happy to help you.

The best strategy to take if you change your mind is to proceed through the sale, sell the property after you have secured financing and then take your money after you have sold the property.

You are responsible for the first $500 in repairs, all utilities and maintenance of a pool/jacuzzi (if there is one). This means, we are responsible for only major ticket items like AC and roofs. You are not responsible for HOA fees during the term of the lease. If there are any exceptions, they will be noted on the property page.

I have nothing to gain by hiding properties. I built this site because I don't have time to call 700 people every time I add a property. I usually post about 4 properties a week and usually the day I get them. Fill out my form and you will get notified every Monday of new and reduced properties.

The number one thing you must do with any Lease/Option is to record your purchase agreement with county records. The second thing you can do is have your payments sent through a title company. By having your payments go through a title company, you will know that your payments are being applied towards the mortgage. By recording your purchase agreement, the bank gives you first rights to purchase the home. The sooner you get qualified to purchase the home the better off you are.

That's right. I saved the best for last. Most lease/option tenants don't make it:

50% of you won't make it because...	You give up. About month number six you realize that owning a home is way more than meets the eye. Since you decided that you needed the same lifestyle you had before, you stretch yourself into a house you can barely afford. All it takes is one little hiccup and your world collapses. "I lost my job, my loser boyfriend gambled all the money, my kid got sick, my car broke down..." I get a country and western song every week. 80% of the people I evict are single women.
20% of you extend your contract because...	You dilly dally and don't clean up your credit. You keep promising me and everyone else that you will get on it. Next week turns into next month which leads to next year and wham! One year went poof and you are in the same boat you were in before. The good news is that you still haven't wasted your money because most of my partners are willing to extend your option. The bad news is that you haven't made any progress.
20% of you wont make it because...	You ignore my warning that you need 3 times the mortgage to make it happen. The new job or company you started doesn't come close to the income needed to qualify for a loan. You had pie eyed dreams that you will be making twice as much as you did last year.
10% of you will make it because...	You followed my advice: 1 You started modestly in a home that you had no problem making 3 times the mortgage. As you were looking at properties, you stayed away from the ones that you couldn't afford at the end of the lease. 2 You either hired one of my professional credit cleaners or hired someone reputable to clean up your credit. 3 You didn't tell your boss to piss off. You sucked it up, kept your head low and decided to be patient for the day you qualified for your mortgage and closed escrow. 4 You saved your pennies for the rainy day when the dog got sick and the car broke down. You didn't call me with your country & western song. 5 You avoided the new car lots and jet skis. You hunkered down and stayed focused on staying away from all the traps America has to offer. You finally realized that owning a new car or dining room set won't make you any happier or sexier. 6 You hired one of my professional credit cleanersto work on your credit. You understood that credit cleaning is a constant effort and that I won't be doing the work for you. 7 You frequently chatted with my mortgage broker who specializes in working with my lease/option tenants. You also took her up on her offer of reimbursing your credit cleaning expenses at the close of escrow. 8 You didn't wait until the month your lease expired to get all your paperwork in order. You called or emailed me 4 months prior to your lease/expiration to let me know you are ready to rock.