If you are currently renting a property from someone, you probably look forward to owning a property. In fact, most renters work hard at paying off their debt and improving their credit score so that they can be eligible for a mortgage.
However, most people who do feel like they’re missing out on a significant buying opportunity. The value of homes has decreased considerably, and many people feel that we are at the bottom. Others believe they have some time to buy before they are out of the woods. However, they are some reasons as to why looking at lease options are better than buying.
Theoretically speaking, if you are at the bottom of the real estate market, and if prices are really expected to inflate from this point onwards, and if you don’t qualify for a mortgage at this point in time, there is no reason why you shouldn’t benefit from this appreciation.
Leasing a home gives you more or less the same equity benefits as owning one. If you decide to buy, your purchase price will be set from the first day, and any future appreciation will be yours to benefit from. If you have been able to take advantage of the tremendous buying opportunity or if you don’t qualify for a mortgage at this point in time, you’ve still done well.
Alternatively, if the market decides to go down instead of up, a lease-option is still much better than ownership.
Sometime back, when a person purchased a home for $250,000, and another person moved into an identical property also worth $250,000 down the street, on a lease option agreement, they were completely happy. They both knew they’ve moved into a great asset and have their own piece of the American dream. However, a few years later both houses were only worth $180,000.
So the person who purchased the home for $250,000 is now in a predicament. They can either choose to keep the house and continue making huge payments on the mortgage until the market moves back up again or they can choose to let the house get foreclosed, but their credit would have to suffer for the next few years.
Alternatively, the second buyer who moved into the house on the lease option, can choose to move out into a much more affordable property and it won’t impact their credit score at all or they can choose to also negotiate the purchase price with the seller and get the house at the new appraised value.
Therefore, if you choose the lease option, then you’re able to insulate yourself, depreciating the mystic market. Worst-case scenario, you have to full-featured uptrend option payment but this does not ruin your credit score. Ultimately, you will not be paying into a home that is tens of thousand dollars underwater.
A lease to own option has enough benefits to far outweigh the option of purchasing a mortgage. While the mortgage option may seem like the American dream, ultimately, there are various aspects to factor into and it is not really the best choice considering how unpredictable the property market can be.
Lease Option Homes – Better Than Buying?
So ultimately, irrespective of how the property market actuates in the next year or two, irrespective of with a chooses to appreciate or depreciate, you can always get the best of both worlds by choosing a lease to own option rather than investing in a mortgage.