Essential Information About Rent To Own Homes In Baltimore MD

By Deborah Murphy


You can opt to buy a rent to own house if you need more time to prepare yourself. When you rent to own, a part of the rent will be used to pay for the property you are renting. The process of purchasing rent to own homes in Baltimore MD starts with two agreements. They include an option to purchase the home and a rental agreement.

The rental agreement is almost similar to a conventional lease. It stipulates the rental fee and the term. In most agreements, the term is 2 or 3 years. The agreement will also stipulate several conditions that you must meet. Examples are general conduct requirements, no pets and occupancy limit. If you fail to abide by these conditions, you will be asked to leave the house and you may end up losing the money you have paid towards the purchase of the property.

In the rental agreement, you may also be responsible for performing maintenance on the house. The logic behind this requirement is that you will have the motivation to ensure that the house remains in good condition if you will become the owner in a few years. Nevertheless, the property owner will be responsible for making major repairs that can make the home uninhabitable.

In a rent to buy deal, you have the option to purchase the home within the period stipulated in the lease agreement. For instance, if the agreement stipulates a 3 year rental term, you have three years to purchase the house. You can rest assured that the property will not be sold to anyone else.

You will be required to pay an option fee. This fee could vary anywhere from 2 to 7.5 percent of the purchase price of the home. The option fee will be credited toward the purchase of the home at the end of the lease term.

The rent charged for lease to own homes is usually higher than that charged for conventional rental homes. The reason for this is that some of the rental fee is saved as credit that will go towards buying the house. People who seek a higher credit pay higher rental fees. Consumers should also note that the lease agreement may state that they may lose the rent credit if they pay their rental fees late.

In a lease to buy deal, the purchase price is mentioned up front. This is the market value of the property, but it could be a little bit higher. You can negotiate the buying price. You may choose not to make the decision to buy the home until the end of the lease term. If you make a decision not to buy the house, you may lose the option fees and the credit.

As a buyer, the rent to buy deal can be advantageous if you prefer not to go through the conventional process of getting a mortgage. For instance, you may not have enough money to make a down payment or your credit history may also not be good enough. If you opt for the lease to own agreement, you will have enough time to improve your credit as you build your equity. This will also give you an opportunity to try out a certain neighborhood.




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