Rent to own?

[danaeris]

Anyone know anything about renting to own? Is it a good idea, or bad idea, or what?

Edit: A house, that is.

Comments

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Appliances, cars, or houses?

[pyat.livejournal.com]

BTW, I don't know anything about renting-to-own any of those items. :)

THough I hear some rent-to-own outlets are pretty shady.

[tunape.livejournal.com]

in general, I think it's a good idea. My parents did that for our piano at home b/c they wanted me to lear to play, but couldn't afford one at the time. After 10 years(I think that's their term), they decided to keep it, and now it's happily collecting dust at home. :)

but seriously, if you are unsure whether you want to keep the current "model" and not upgrade later, rent-to-own builds more equity than leasing, but puts the burden of owning to them.

rent-to-own condo

[admiralthrawn.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about buying a home a couple years back, and so ended up getting a rent-to-own deal on a condo (75% of rent would count toward purchace price, plus right of first refusal on any sale deal if someone else made an offer). At the end of the year, I was happy to move out, because having lived there let me see a large number of problems with the place that weren't at all obvious at first glance (ok, a professional home inspector might have been able to find the wiring problems, and detect that the flooring was installed badly, and the bathroom fixtures were done badly so they develped an insane number of leaks... The place had been renovated just before we moved in, and while it looked shiny and new, it became increasingly obvious over time that the workers had been totally incompetent.).

So, from the perspective of trying it before you buy, it can be worth a lot -- some places just suck in ways that aren't obvious until you spend a lot of time there. And financially, if you can't afford a real down payment, a rent-to-own deal lets you build equity, unlike just renting. It's likely to be somewhat more expensive than just renting (they aren't giving you that option to buy for free...), and you should keep in mind that buying only really makes financial sense if you are going to settle down in one area for 5+ years, so you should consider how likely it is that you'll want to move somewhere else in a couple years when doing the calculations.

[angel-thane.livejournal.com]

In general, it's a bad idea. Rent-to-own schemes are going to end up costing you more than just buying the damn thing to begin with (and then getting financing from a bank).

Rent-to-own is an alright idea if you're not sure if you want something (a juicer perhaps, or other kitchen appliances which run a high rate of 'sitting in the closet') and then buying it after a few payments. Beyond that though, it's a really pricey way to pay for things.

[rocketgeek.livejournal.com]

Horrible idea. They always cost more in the long run.