I am looking to start a new job in Asheboro, NC and want to buy realestate in the area. I am 41 yr. old first time home buyer with poor credit. I have search and seen properties advertising rent to own and option to buy. I aslo talked with some home owners that state they just want me to take over payments. What info/advice can anyone give me about these items. I am thinking that this would be a good way to own a home by using my rent to slowly accumulate a down payment. Is this how it works. Please give advice. Thanks to all

Hello,
The biggest disadvantage is you still don't own the house till you make that downpayment which can be couple years in some cases.

Depending on the market in the area if the property appreciated at a faster pace you will lock in your purchase price irrespective of the appreciation in the market value.

Good Luck
Ritu

Unless you are knowledgeable in Subject To purchases you can be opening yourself up to several major problems... such as what happens if after a few years you loose contact with the owners?? What happens if you have a fire or flood or some other house damage??? The insurance is most likely not in your name.. What can occur if you change the insurance policy to your name??? Well one is technically you will trigger the Due On Sale Clause of the mortgage... the lender can demand immediate payment of the mortgage in full... their ways around that... but do you know them? What happens if after you pay on the property 4 or 5 years the owners decide to move back in??? How are you going to protect yourself against that? What would you do if the mortgage company did an occupancy check and discovered the "owners" were not living in the property? After paying for years, you then want to sell or move.... do you have any beneficial interest in the property that you can prove? How much of the rent applies to your purchase? What is the agreed purchase price and what are the terms?... what are the conditions? Do you know how to perform or have performed the necessary Due Diligence? Are their more than a single mortgage? how many liens?, judgments? Tax Certificates? What happens if the "owner" dies before you complete the Option?

Since you probably didn't get the deed... what if the "owner" sales the property to someone else? If you did get the deed... would you record it? What bad things could happen if you did record it? What bad things could if you didn't record it?

You will need to spend a lot of time with a real estate attorney to cover all those potential and real problems or become very informed on the methodology of how to work this type of option/ rental / lease to own opportunity.

It is not something I would recommend you attempt on your own with out extensive research and Due Diligence on your part

Realty check, I want to thank you for your advice. I would not ever enter any type of a contract without the counsel of a qualified attorney. It just goes without saying. I just want to know what the basics are in those circumstances.