First Lease Option - We will be the tenants

[Vince Petrell]

Hello,

We are new to REI and this would be our first "deal."

We are moving to a new state, and I just went up to look for properties as our personal residence. There are few FSBO's in the area we are moving to, but I found a property that is through a Realtor. I am also working with a Realtor.

We are looking at a particular neighborhood because of schools and amenities, and that is limiting our choices. There are about 6-7 homes in our price range, and they are not moving well, although the pace seems to be picking up.

The owner has the property for sale or for lease. From the talks with our Realtor, she seems motivated to move, although I do not know how motivated. We want to go in and offer the owner a lease option.

The rent is $1600 on a $339,000 house. I thought to offer $1500 rent with a 3 year lease option at the full $339,000 price, or the full $1600 rent with a purchase price of, say $325,000. We really wanted to lower our monthly expenses, and leave room for cash flow after living there for about a year, at which time we hope to sandwich lease option it.

We are new to all of this, so my numbers and ideas may seem crazy.

What I am wondering is are my ideas solid or am I off base? Since I am working with Realtors, what forms must I use and how should I approach it with them? Are the forms different with Realtors?

Any other help would be greatly appreciated.
Vince