It might occur to you as a home seller that offering a rent-to-own opportunity for Charleston buyers might help sell your home faster or at least get a renter in who might later purchase.

As a seller, is a rent/purchase or a lease/purchase option a good idea? It can be but not always. These agreements can be structured to favor one side more than the other so all parties should have agent representation. You really need an attorney, too.

The lease-to-own house purchase (also "rent-to-own purchase" or "lease purchase") is a lease combined with an option to purchase the property within a certain time period.

Most lease/purchase situations involve people who, in the process of  looking at "for sale" homes, discover that they cannot qualify - and then  ask the seller if they would consider renting as an alternative. From that interaction a lease/purchase deal might be developed.

 -  buyer to pay an up-front option fee (1%-5% of purchase price) which is clearly stated in the contract as non-refundable --  OR the buyer will pay rent at a certain rate above "market rent", with the additional rent going towards their closing costs/ credit back at closing.

- two contracts are used -one for the purchase and the other for the lease.

- the purchase contract is a "straight" purchase deal-the price of the house with all usual terms included plus an option addendum

- The lease portion has the standard rental terms- rent per month, late fees, length of lease, etc.

- If the buyers/renters do purchase it, the option fee or above market rent goes towards their closing costs. The hopeful buyers need to be motivated enough to want to pay for that option.

Few of these deals go to closing.

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