Real Estate Lease Option Danger

Why are real estate investors having so much successoffering "rent to own" homes?

Lease-options offer home ownership opportunitiesto folks with little cash and not so hot credit.

Oh boy, there are plenty of those around.

Both parties in a lease-option deal are counting on thebuyer being able to qualify for a home loan before the option expires.

The investor wants to collect his profit when theoptionee buys. The optionee wants to own the home.

During the lease period the renter/optionee must be working to improve their credit score to the point where they can qualify for a loan and buy the home.

Even though there is plenty of subprime loan moneyfloating around at the present time... the lease-optionmethod of acquiring a home seems to appeal to many.

In our own investing program.... Before we accept someone for a lease-option deal we have them interviewed by our friendly loan broker. He gives us thumbs up or thumbs down on whether our prospective buyers has achance to qualify for a mortgage loan loan during the next 12 to 24 months.

It would be unetical and dishonest to enter into alease option deal with a couple whose credit could neverbe cured even with a miracle drug.

We are not aware that it has happened, but we fully expect to see a lawsuit filed against some careless investor who does a lease option deal with someone whose creditis beyond redemption.

That renter/optionee has been lead to believe he can buy thehome and when he finds out he can't we are sure somehungry lawyer will rush to their rescue.

We can visit that investor in jail and bring him a copyof a "no money down" book with a file hidden inside.

About The Author - Mark Walters is a real estate investor and author. Hispublished works can be found at his web site...http://www.CashFlowInstitute.com

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.