Rent to Own Questions, Answered Straight

A rent to own agreement is a contract on a property that works like a lease and leads to a purchase. It's often called a lease with an option, or a lease option for short. The lease part is a standard rental agreement with monthly rent, a security deposit and the usual terms. The option part gives you the right to buy the property at an agreed price within a set period, which is the time you use to save, repair credit or strengthen your income so a lender will say yes.

Same idea, different name. Some sellers and attorneys prefer "lease option" because it describes the two separate pieces accurately: a rental agreement, plus an option to purchase. We use both terms because buyers in Atlanta search for both.

That's most of the people we work with. A blemish on a credit report, a short employment history at a new job, self-employment income a lender won't count, or simply not enough saved. None of those mean you can't own a home. They mean you can't own one this month through a bank. Fill out the form and we'll tell you honestly whether we can work with your situation.

No. An option is a right, not an obligation. If the term ends and you're not ready, you can talk to us about an extension, or you can move out. What you don't do is get back the money you paid to hold the option, because you're choosing not to use it. That's the key distinction with any rent to own home: there are two agreements, a rental one and an option to purchase, and they're treated separately.

No. An option fee is not a deposit, and it isn't a down payment either. A deposit is your money, held by someone else, waiting to come back to you. An option fee isn't held for you at all. It's payment for something you receive the moment you sign.

What you're buying is the exclusive right to purchase the home at a price fixed in writing today, for the whole length of the option period, whatever the market does in the meantime. Nobody else can buy the house out from under you while that option is live. You own that right from day one, until the end of the option agreement. That is why the fee isn't refundable: you got the thing you paid for.

Our agreements are written so that the option fee is consideration for the option itself, not money held on your behalf. Whenever you're involved in a real estate transaction, consider working with a qualified real estate professional.

Ours runs between 3.5% and 7% of the agreed purchase price. That sits inside what lenders describe as the normal range for the industry.

Any security deposit is a separate thing entirely, and it follows the ordinary Georgia rules for deposits. Where your option fee falls in the range depends on the property, the purchase price and the length of the option, and all of it is agreed in writing before you move in.

It can, and it's one of the things we set out clearly in the agreement rather than leaving vague. Rent credit is governed by lending rules that have tightened over the years, so anyone promising you a fixed credit before they've seen the deal is guessing. Ask us about the specific property and you'll get a specific answer.

The price is negotiated and written into the option at the start. If the market rises during your term, the agreed price doesn't move with it. If it falls, you're not obliged to buy. That certainty is a large part of why buyers choose this route.

Responsibility for maintenance, repairs, taxes and insurance is spelled out in the contract, item by item, before anyone signs. A vague agreement on repairs is where most rent to own arrangements sour, so we'd rather bore you with the detail up front. Ask us directly and we'll tell you for the home you're looking at.

There's no published number, and anyone who gives you one is guessing at your situation before they've looked at it. We look at what you earn, what you already owe, your rental history and who will vouch for how you pay. We run a credit check and verify income for everyone over 18 in the household. Some people we can help, some we can't, and we'll tell you which quickly rather than keep you hanging.

Usually yes, and that's a good problem to have. If your financing comes together early, tell us and we'll get it moving.

No. We're not a lender and we don't provide the mortgage. When you're ready to purchase, you go to a lender the same as any other buyer. What we can do is tell you early what a lender is likely to want from you, so there are no surprises two years from now.

In any business there are a few people not doing the right thing, and they give everyone else a bad name. Rent to own and lease option agreements are a legitimate, long-established path to home ownership, and they're one of the few realistic routes for a buyer the mortgage market isn't ready for.

What protects you is a comprehensive written contract: the price, the term, the option fee, who fixes what, and exactly what happens if a payment is missed. Before you sign with anybody, including us, look the property up in the county records and check who holds title and whether there are liens or foreclosure filings against it. Any straight operator will tell you to do exactly that.

Georgia's Department of Community Affairs puts the arrangement plainly in its own Landlord-Tenant Handbook:

"Lease with an Option to Purchase. If you want to buy a home and expect to stay in one area or one city for a long time, you may consider a lease with an option to purchase… In addition to the rent, you will also pay for the option to purchase."

Talk to us early. That's not a platitude: the earlier you say something, the more room there is to work with. What we can and can't do depends on the agreement you signed and the property, and we'd rather have that conversation in month three than month thirty.

Because a listing is a request and a sale on terms is an arrangement. Listing means commission, showings, an uncertain timeline and a buyer whose loan can still collapse at the last minute. Selling on terms means you're paid over time by someone who is working toward owning the house, so they treat it like theirs.

The house is still yours. You keep what was paid for the option and the rent you collected, and you can either list the property at that point or start another agreement. It isn't the outcome anyone plans for, but it isn't a loss either.

Tell us the situation. Condition, an existing loan, tenants in place, back taxes, an inherited property with several owners: these are the ordinary reasons a house doesn't sell the conventional way, and they're the reason we exist. We'll tell you quickly whether it's something we can do.

Atlanta, Snellville, Lawrenceville, Decatur and the wider Gwinnett County and north metro Atlanta area.