Posted by Clair-MO on February 20, 2004 at 10:08:19:
David, You are asking some really good questions on lease options. I have been doing lease optioning for nearly 9 years with very little down as an option fee. Most of times, I do nothing down deals in doing lease options, it depends on the seller whether you will be able lease option the home. I usually pre-qualify them taking less than 2 minutes whether the seller is “motivated” or not. You will find most of the time, the seller is not “motivated” but that doesn’t mean you can’t turn them into becoming “motivated” sellers. The secret is “Be a friend!” When in negotiating you break down the barrier of being a stranger letting the seller to see you as a FRIEND meeting their needs. The chances are greater that they will sell to you through lease option or owner financing. Also, it depends on the situation the seller is in…Maybe relocation and doesn’t really need to the money to move on and find another place. I picked up a 4 bedroom home with a large swimming pool on 2 acres when the folks were unexpected transferred to Europe through lease option for 5 years. They needed debt relief because of the transfer but they didn’t want to sell their home in the conventional way. So I worked with them by offering a lease option for the amount of their mortgage payment and now I am getting a $400 positive cash flow for 5 years! I love it!!! Lease option is another term for “Rent to own” and to answer your number 3 go to Dec 2003 in the main group and do the archives section and put into the box “script for purchasing an apartment” or my user name Clair-MO and you should bring up the script and notice how I negotiated with the seller on doing a lease option on a 24 Units if you can’t find the script contact me and I’ll send a copy to you fair enough. Number 4, I always try to get the seller to reduced their asking price or get them to sell their home for the current mortgage owed on it. The key to get the seller to reduce their asking price is to get them to see how you are there to help them out of a difficult situation. Try to find out what their needs are first and be friendly and fair with them in working out an offer on their home! Number 5, You need to put an ad in weeklies as well as local newspaper. Your ad should read" " Rent to Own, Easy Qualify, No Bank Qualifying Call for details 123-456-7890." You should have alot of folks calling you and the first question out of your mouth should be “How much cash do you have for an option fee?” Explain to the folks calling you that the option fee can be applied to the purchase price and is non-refundable!