Real Estate Question - Rent to own Homes. (Anchorage, Eagle: real estate market, lease)

[quakinator]

Anyone have any experience with renting to own? I can bet this is going to become more popular soon, if it hasn't already due to the economic downturn. People are going to be unable to qualify for loans they previously would have, unable to come up with 10-20% down payments and renting to own will surely increase in popularity with future buyers. Sellers will also have an incentive as the real estate market continues to decline and those really needing to unload their payments will probably take a closer look at some other options after homes remain unsold for long periods of time.

Do most real estate agencies and brokers deal in lease agreements that include rent to own type agreements, or do you have to find a specific broker that deals in that, and does anyone know of people who would have a good selection of these types of properties in the Anchorage/Eagle River area?

Here's a very basic article on the nuts and bolts of renting to own:

http://money.howstuffworks.com/perso...-own-homes.htm

[starlite9]

The term you are looking for is "Lease with an option to buy", that gives you time to see if the property is what you want, and if you want to buy it. The amount that you pay in lease fees may be able to have all or part of it put towards the purchase price depending on the deal you strike.

With Obama wanting to repeal some of the tax benifits from selling a house you have owned for five years or so and lived in for two, the current law allows you to sell and not pay taxes (Federal) on the gains. If they remove that clause, you may find people wanting to sell their homes to buyers themselves and not make so much up front to pay taxes on...

Time will tell....

Marty may be able to give you more details on how that plays out now since he is doing that for a living and may be of some valuable assistance.