Buying a home with a Lease To Buy Contract is a great way to purchase a home – especially if you have less than perfect credit to bad credit or if you do not have the income or asset requirements to qualify for a mortgage or home equity type home loan.

As great as the Lease to Buy Contract is for becoming a homeowner, there are some rules to follow – guidelines to follow – to make sure your efforts are rewarded in the future with a mortgage.

The first thing to ensure about anything you do is to get it in writing and document everything. For example, every time you write a check for the lease, or monthly rent, home repairs authorized by the property owner, down payment deposits or anything else associated with the home, make sure you get a copy of the check before and after it is cashed.

Additional Items For Your Lease To Buy Contract

• Make sure you keep a copy of the lease purchase agreement and that it spells out how your down payment deposit is handled if in fact your are paying something. Keep copies of your check, any receipt you get, and the canceled check.
• If you can, make sure the paperwork is reviewed by a real estate attorney to make sure you are getting what you think you are getting in the contract.
• Make sure that the lease contract on the home is recorded against the deed of the home by a title company or real estate attorney.
• Ensure that you have the first right of refusal to purchase the home outright during the lease period if for some reason another buyer for the home comes along and offers your home seller money. The last thing you want it to have the home sold from underneath you. You also want to make sure your deposit is protected if in fact you do not purchase the home.
• Ensure you establish a sales price and that that number is written into the lease contract. You do not want the home seller getting greedy on you down the road if the value of the home goes up before you take the deed in your own name.
• If you plan on making contributions to a down payment over time through your lease payment, make sure that your lease payment is greater than the average rents for a similar home. If it is not, you will not be able to count the payment as down payment and you may run short of money down the road.
• Make your monthly payments with a check. It is imperative that you do this so you can show a rental history. An underwriter will be looking for you to prove your rental history.

For further explanation on some of the topics and to read the source for this post visit: Lease To Buy Agreement – Key Contract Points To Protect Yourself