Should We convert a Lease to an Option to Buy

Q: Dear William, Our home has been on the market for a few months with no offers. We have an excellent, long-term tenant who wants to buy the home, but cannot afford to make a down payment. We are considering a Lease to Purchase agreement as a solution – it seems especially attractive given her outstanding care of our property and dependability to date.
My questions are: Can we hire a real estate lawyer and sign a Lease to Own agreement directly with the tenant, or do we have to use our real estate agent instead? How much should we charge the tenant over their current rent?
~Drew

A: Drew, some great questions here. Know first of all, that you’re not alone with this issue. Selling a home right now when there are so few options for financing is causing every homeowner in the country a huge headache. On the plus side, you have a great tenant, and those are equally hard to find these days!
I think your compromise of selling to your renter is a great solution to your problem and one that is being pursued by many sellers in the current market. Seller financing is not without its own set of problems however and if not done correctly, can lead to all sorts of problems down the road. In many cases, the deals just fail to close which is why you are doing exactly the right thing by using an attorney for a contract like this. Each contract in these cases is complex and unique, and the terms and timelines must be carefully monitored in order to bring the transaction to a successful conclusion.
As for the dollar amounts you ask about, when considering a lease-to-own deal, each deal is put together according to the results of the negotiations by both parties. Everything is negotiable, including both of the items you mention above. This is why I may be able to assist you since I don’t know which state you are in, and as you may know “all real estate is local.” This means that contractual customs vary widely and you should probably take advice from an agents like myself and the attorneys that are used to structuring deals of this specific nature.
Whether you are bound to keep your agent or not depends on what your written agreement says – assuming you have one at all. If it is “exclusive” then in most cases you are locked in for a specific period of time; but without seeing it, it’s impossible to say. If you have no agreement, then it depends what you mean by the word “retain.” Given your need for a real estate attorney in this transaction, this question would best be directed to that attorney to avoid any potential disagreements in the future.
Good luck!
Thank you Marcus Burke for the information.


Call me today and I will be glad to help you navigate throught these tricky real estate situation.