A Profitable Niche Investment- Lease Options

Based on my decades of real estate investing experience, I’m firmly convinced that lease options are the least risky but highly profitable niche for investors. Something else I’ve come to firmly believe is that you and I can learn for each other to stay on the cutting edge of the ever-evolving real estate market. Learning how to find rent to own properties is the cornerstone of the lease option investing business. This article is only the tip of the iceberg of information I share with readers on my website.

Who is lease option investing suited for? Well, any investor. However, beginning investors that are cash poor find it particularly appealing. As does the experienced investor that has maxed out his or her ability to obtain new financing. And every investor in between.

Step 1 – How to Find Rent to Own Properties

As soon as you have a nuts and bolts understanding of lease option investing, your first action is finding investment properties with a high profit potential as a lease to own. Notice that I said “investment properties”. I specifically didn’t say find properties “own” or “buy”. Real estate investing is about “controlling” as many properties as you can. It is NOT about “owning” as many properties as you can. This is why the sandwich lease option is ideal.

The key wisdom of how to find rent to own properties means taking control of a house with a lease option. You don’t own it, no one can sue you for it, no one can put a lien against it, this is low risk investing. You pay a small “option fee” for control rather than a hefty down payment. That makes it low cost. What you are looking for is a low risk/low cost investment property.

Once you control the property, you find an end buyer wanting a lease to own purchase arrangement. The sandwich lease option puts you in the middle as the meat in the sandwich. The meat is the best part where you can profit three times. You charge a higher lease option fee. You charge a higher rent from the end buyer than you pay to the seller. And you charge a higher sales price from the end buyer than you pay based on the original lease option. Those are the nuts and bolts of how to find rent to own properties.

How to Find Rent to Own Properties – Targeting Prospective Sellers

You are not in the same real estate market as other investors or first time buyers. There are plenty of lease option sellers out there when you know who to target. Among the many opportunities, your best includes people that are willing to both sell a house and/or rent it out. These are people needing to quickly generate cash from the property they own. A lease option generates instant cash for them in the form of the option fee as soon as they sign the agreement. You can even hand them cold cash right at that moment. It then pays a passive income to them in the form of your monthly rent check.

One of the strong benefits of the sandwich lease options is the ability to write flexible agreements that meet everyone’s needs. Win-win-win scenarios when the seller, you as the investor, and the end buyer all come away with what you want.How to find rent to own properties often involves another highly likely prospect – the tired or retiring landlord. These are people that no longer want to manage their rental property. What you are offering these people is the same quick cash with the option fee, a passive monthly retirement income, and a retirement nest egg when the end buyer completes the purchase.

At its most basic, finding rent to own properties is about finding a house owner that answers “Yes” to these two questions:

1. “Are you interested in renting your property on a long term lease for between 2 to 4 years?”

2. “Are you be interested in selling the property to me at some point during the same 2 to 4 years?”

Real estate investing does not need to be about owning as much property as possible. It should be about controlling as much property as possible for the least amount of money and risk.