Rent to Own Houses in Ann Arbor Michigan: Factors to Consider

If you're looking for a rent to own property in Ann Arbor Michigan, you're not alone.

With the University of Michigan sprawling through the town, numerous cultural amenities, restaurants, exciting nightlife, and big ten sports -- yet retaining small Midwestern charm -- many people are looking for rent to own houses in Ann Arbor Michigan.

Rent to own is also sometimes referred to as a lease option.

There are advantages for the buyer of a rent to own property in Ann Arbor Michigan over a typical rent situation.

These are:


A feeling of true home ownership because you have an option you can exercise that allows you to purchase the home.


Part of the tenant-buyer's monthly payments go toward the down payment of the house when the option is exercised. These are called "rent credits" and basically means you are building equity.


You don't need as much of a down payment as you would in a typical house buying situation. Ususally $3,000 to $6,000 is enough, although it will depend on the particular house.


If you rent to own property in Ann Arbor Michigan, you get to live there before having to exercise the option. When the option comes up for expiration, if you decide you don't want to buy the home after all, you can simply not exercise the option and walk away. This basically amounts to you being able to "test drive" the home to decide if you really like it enough to buy it.


Another potential advantage for the buyer when living in a rent to own property in Ann Arbor Michigan is that if the property appreciates in value before your option expires, you may have a good appreciation windfall....and in such a situation it would make a lot of sense to exercise the option to buy. Conversely, if the property falls in value, this could factor in your decision to walk away from exercising the option to purchase the home.

As you can see there are many advantages.

One of the downsides, however, is making sure before you rent to own property in Ann Arbor Michigan it is done right. Both the seller and the buyer can get into trouble or come to a misunderstanding if it's done improperly. For example, if it isn't set up right and you are renting to own a home that appreciates over the 12 to 24 months of the option contract, you may find the seller looking for ways to thwart you from exercising the option since the home is now more valuable than it was.

Another potential issue is that if you have subpar credit, as a buyer you may not be able to get the financing in place you need to purchase the property when your option expiration comes due.

In these cases, experienced real estate investors in Michigan like us can help.

We work with tenant-buyers who want to rent to own houses in Ann Arbor Michigan. We find out what kind of funds you have available for a down payment, what kind of monthly payments you can comfortably afford to make, and how your current credit situation is.

We can negotiate with the seller of rent to own houses and get you into one of the homes you like, set up the transaction the right way (with our own contracts that we use for lease options all the time), and help you do credit repair so that you can buy that house when the time is right. Bad or bruised credit is not an issue for the tenant-buyers we work with.

In addition, people who can't sell their rent to own Houses in Ann Arbor Michigan can now do so with our assistance as long as they are willing to work on terms.