LEASE PURCHASE SCAMS

I truly appreciate your concern for potential victims. But I would hate to have ALL landlords be generalized as scam artists. I myself have been a landlord (I don't really like that word) for 15 years and have had wonderful relationships with every tenant. I do plan to do lease options with some of our properties soon, but I wouldn't DREAM of ripping a family off. Make a little profit on the property and help one of my families own a home, no ulterior motives. I think lease options can be a wonderful opportunity for a buyer. But, like you said, one does have to be careful with any business deal they make. Especially people with bad credit due to poor choices in the past. So due diligence is important, but don't let fear keep you from exploring opportunities.

Thanks for letting me interject.

Rina

It's not impossible to exercise a LO in one year.

Not all landlords will throw you out.

LO is NOT a scam.

Few if any landlords are going to lock up their property on a 5 year lease. I know I never would. (I actually had someone call and suggest this once. I said I guess I could consider this- with automatic rent escalator clauses of course. Guess what. He hung up.)

Sounds like you have some really mean landlords where you live...I'm an investor hoping to help people AND help myself. It's team work and I'm assuming whatever landlord did those deals is unfortunately a crook at heart. I spoke with my realtor who says under the current market downturn even people with not so pretty credit CAN fix it. For instance my sister has been working on her recent credit upset for 6 months. She now wants to do a 1-yr lease w/ option through me. The realtor said with the proof of 1 year's cashed renters checks and proven income she could qualify under some of the new programs. There are a lot of families in our area who had a house turn on them due to the ARM loans and lost their homes. I know 3 personally all with excellent jobs now renting w/ options because of their credit but who are also planning on using the financing available through FHA to help them back into homes. P.S. My sister who wants to do the lease w/ option...her husband is a police officer. Smiles to you and have a great day. POLICE OFFICERS do an outstanding job!!

HEIDE

I appreciate your concerns, however, if you read the book, Dean never mentioned anything about doing a lease option for one (1) year. I think he knows and we all know that it's tough to repair your credit in one year, although anything is possible. That's why most lease options are usually 2-3 years. Sorry if you or someone else may have been a victim of lease option, but a lease option is NOT A SCAM, but is a system for those who have the less than perfect credit score to get in the house and in return make their home owners dreams becoming a reality. Just like leasing a car and the dealership gives you the option to purchase the vehicle at the end of your lease. The dealership would not give you your money back for paying the lease, but they would use your credibility and loyalty as a customer under consideration and possibly work out a better deal for you. Good luck to you and and your real estate investing!

Lloyd

First, let me welcome you to the DG family! We are so glad to have you here! Thank you for the warning about the lease option scam, that's what this forum is all about, helping people! Way to go! Sadly, there are scammers out there that will use people for their own greedy purposes, whether it's Real Estate or any other business for that matter. I just had my pool cleaned and they tried to scam me into buying parts for my pump, when I knew my pump was working fine, just another way to get me to pay more money... It happens all the time, especially if you're woman. Even on my vacation, I stopped to get gas, and the attendant said he noticed one of my tires was 'dangerously low' and that it might have a nail in it or something, I just drove 300 miles on that tire, I knew it was fine. But he saw a woman and thought he could sell me a tire that I didn't really need.
Unfortunately the world is full of unethical people like this. But like Dean says, you should work with people that have emotions and feelings, who are genuine and real. Knowledge is power, before you sign a lease option learn about it, make sure the terms are reasonable to avoid getting scammed. The beauty of the lease option is that it's all negotiable and if the owner's not willing to negotiate, find another one that will, because ultimately it's intended to provide a win/win solution for both parties!
God bless,

First hello Chasity, I am sorry to hear what you think of lease options but that happens to have become my speciality.

I see others have given thier opinions as well and pleas dont think you are getting beat down for how you think but let me tell you little story.

A person CAN fix their credit in a year AND get financed. I just did it in a matter of months. I worked on my credit my self and got it from low 500's to high 700's and I did it legally.

I then applied for financing and received my pre-approval for 500K for both FHA and Conventional financing with Countrywide.

I am currenly lease optioning out 2 homes (of the 3 that I recently acquired) and I wrote them oth up for 1 yr options with (2) additional (1) yr renewals if needed. Unlike some owners, I will gie them back 30% of ther accumulated downpayments but everything else is mine. I give this back because even thought they got into the houses with every intention of buying, things can happen and sometimes they can never obtain the financing. So they will in essesce have to move, and when they do, it only made sense to give them something back to move WITH. I am not a SCAMMER nor am I unkind. I have have been there myself and sometimes as a buyer it does not matter how hard you try you just cant make it happen.

Please do not be tainted by those other owners that you have seen do lease options, because I am sure the buyers were at as much fault as the owners were. Every coin has two sides.

I think we could use this as a way to understand and educate others as you have warned us about. For those of us who offer the Foreclosure help website which truly offers people different ways to help themselves out of a jam it would behoove us to offer that same assistance as landlords. I don't understand why a landlord wouldn't WANT to get the option finalized. If they stood to make a profit on the sale of the house and actually helped their tenants fix their credit it seems to me they would make a lot more money through closing on the house with one lump sum payment rather than waiting for new tenants to move in and take their money. With the knowledge we have been offered in Dean's book and personal experiences it makes MORE sense to help your tenant fix their credit. I personally have learned about 3 educated families of mine that ended up losing their home all with triple digit incomes in the last 2 years and see the struggle they are facing after never having financial woes. I personally want to find houses do l/o and help them fix their credit so they get back into homes and there are a lot of families like that around here. That's why homes in our area are renting out so fast. Now if I could just get my first deal done I'd be on my way to helping those families! Again smiles to you and thanks for the warning.

P.S. Unsure if you are a police officer or are related to one but I've heard the stories from my brother-in-law as well. Some so funny I can't stay seated (man are criminals dumb); however, cops see people (no matter their education level or financial status) everyday on their WORST day. It's not like offering customer service to a happy consumer who's glad you walked up to talk to them. Cops have to deal with irate people everyday; and the stress they undergo is rediculously hard! Glad to see you're looking into investing hope it calms the stress level!

HEIDE

Chasity2007
Unfortunately, the Administrator had to delete your post. However, I'd like to know what you had to say. Would you please reiterate?(sp) Many thanks.

You seem to have done a great job with repairing your credit so quickly and effectively. Please share as to what you did to get such great results. Thanks.