Arik1

MC, "Consultant has provided opinions to assist the Client in setting up a lease agreement between Client and ______________. " Does the name of the tenant go in the blank? Can we sign this agreement before we have a tenant in place? Please advise. Thanks!

Perfect MC!!! Thanks!!!

What if a homeowner isn't interested in lease purchase but wants me to market their property for a straight rental - does anyone have a sample of a lease consulting agreement form that is specific for a straight rental and not lease purchase?

Thanks Chris! I already have purchased "Go for No!" book and it's really helped in terms of the mindset you have to have doing this. It's just going to take a while for me to piece this all together. But it'll come. I work a full-time job and I don't have alot of time, but I'll make do with the little time I have.

I got the same thing calling the FSBOs. There was a great posting that I read here in the forums about what to say when contacting landlords (unfortunately, I can't remember who wrote it). Something about asking first if a long term lease is ok, and then asking if they would consider selling at the end of the lease if all the rent payments are made in time. It sounds pretty smooth. I'm going to try that down the line.

Hi MC, Thanks. I guess it's almost imperative to get the agreement first and then market it. Gotta have those pics!!! I also checked out sellpoint.com - seems like alot of bang for your buck but I think I'll just do the legwork myself - I'll use the list of sites that it has as a reference to do my own advertising.

Hi Ayse, Are you using CL to find T/B's? What I'm trying to do is find Sellers and T/B's at the same time (without getting an agreement with the seller signed first). I'm just trying to decide if I should try to focus marketing on people who haven't thought about lease options before, or, people who have considered it and are now willing to do it. I have ideas for both. Like I said, there are literally tons of properties for rent in CL in my area.

Hi Guys, It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted - I've been getting my feet wet in the marketing side of things. I put out an ad in Craigslist for Sellers on Sunday - Family needs 3bdrm/bath, ok credit, good income, looking to lease purchase, needs flexible terms (I did that because I'm going after the people who may need more flexibility than what the lease option competition is offering). I didn't think I was going to get responses. Received 10 emails so far. I'm happy to see that it works and I'm in the process of setting up some appointments to see the properties and getting the agreements signed. Ok, that went well but what is the best way to get T/B's to respond in Craigslist? Do you try to appeal to the people who are looking to lease only, and put in an ad in the for rent section, or, do you market to the people who are specifically looking to do a lease option? In my city, there are about 12 pages of For Rent ads in CL (especially yesterday!) Any opinions on the best way to approach this? I know there are other sites and options to do this but it seems that most people nowadays go straight to Craigslist when looking to rent.

Thanks MC! As for the mortgage situation, on the phone he told me that the property is free and clear. When I got to the house, he told me that there is a mortgage. I don't know if he's yankin my chain or not. Another thing - on the phone, I asked him, point blank, if he was an investor. He said he wasn't and that the property was ccupied by his daughter for 8 years. But during our conversation at the house, he tells me about some investment property that he's had around the city. So, maybe it's all a part of this famous homeowner's handbook. I'm definitely going to call Tuesday. I'm also working on getting another appointment for next weekend. Once again MC, thanks for all of the support!

Ok, I went to the appointment today to look at the, and here's the breakdown. I went in with the mentality of a T/B, so I wouldn't put out this investor vibe to the homeowner and to make the situation comfortable for the both of us. The homeowner let me walk thru the entire 3/2/2 house alone,which was good because it gave me time to really get a good sense of the house...it was nice, not spectacular, with hardwood floors and new tile in the kitchen and new faucet (the previous tenant destroyed the hardwood floor and sink before they left). After I finished, I went over the terms that he gave to me on the phone - sell price at 120k, 3k option, 1025 monthly rent fr 1year with no rent credits. He told me that he and his wife decided to go down on the rent because of the difficult times. He also told me that he has people come through and really like the house but leave and never call back. Now, I did some homework and I ran comps....based on my calculations the market value is closer to 110k. And so goes the negotiations... So I'm still in the T/B mindset....I ask him if at 120k, there could be a rent credit of $400 (I came to this amount based on the mkt price and most lease options in the area are $200-$300 and this would be a great sales point for marketing to T/B's). He countered that he's already at the lowest he could go on the monthly rent but he didn't really understand what I was asking him. I then explained how it would work - he was still going to get his 1025 rent and at the end of the year if I decided to purchase the house, the 4800 would be subtracted off the price. If I decided to leave, then no rent credit. He finally got it then and said that he would be consider that. Cool! But in the next breath, he states that he still has to make his mortgage payment - what?!?! Now I'm thinking, didn't I ask you on the phone if the property was free and clear and you specifically said yes???? Not deterred, I went into detail about what I wanted to do - come to an agreement, find a buyer and assign the agreement. I explained that the T/B would pay my fee and the option to purchase was non-exclusive. He said he was interested but wanted to wait until Tuesday....supposedly there is a couple that is very, very interested in buying the property outright and they were to fly in on Monday. No prob, just call me if it doesn't go thru...I'm very confident that I can get property will get leased,. especially with a $400 rent credit. So, from there i asked questions about the type of tenant he's looking for and the type of tenant he's had before. He explains that he looks for evictions, if the T/B is employed for at least a year and that he doesn't run any credit reports because he is an ex-cop and he's a pretty good judge of character. He then goes into a 5 minute speech about how bogus the credit system is and how it's all about making banks and financial institutions more money. I asked about repairs and he said that if it were something major, he would take care of it. All in all he was a nice guy. I was very straight forward with him and I think he appreciated that. For my first time, it was like I expected - a little awkward but it felt good to experience it. I'm sure during the next day or two, I'll be thinking about how I could have done it differently but for now, I'm more excited about doing the next one! I'd appreciate any feedback!

Thanks for your response, Chris and MC! I've set up an appointment this Saturday to see the house. The goal is to gain some experience with negotiating a deal face-to-face and to see the process work in "live" speed. I'm pretty confident that I can work out a deal but if not, it would have been great practice. I'll keep you posted!

Hey guys, I just called an ad where the seller is open to a lease option...he is selling his home for 120k and just had a tenant move move out (this tenant kinda wrecked the place). Before I called I did some quick comps and came up with 110k for the property. I asked him about his terms and he told me 3k for option fee, 2 years at a monthly rent of $1025 which includes the HOA fees. The home is free and clear and he is very open to negotiation on the selling price. Since I am just starting out and learning as I go along, does it make sense to market the property for him and negotiate to receive some of the option fee? And if so, could I have him sign a promissory note for a piece of that option fee? What do you think? I think that this could be a great learning experience for me as well as make a little money also.

Are you a licensed agent? If not, never ever claim to be representing anyone other than yourself. Starting out, if I don't own a property management company or have an LLC, what's the best way to refer to myself? Would Consultant work?

Instead of referring myself as an "investor", what's your opinion on this - "I represent a group of 1st time home buyers who are looking to lease purchase a home in good areas and that's the reason for the call today" or something along those lines. Thoughts?

Makes sense. Now does the homeowner agree to this before this actually happens? Is this a conversation that I would have with the homeowner when discussing the terms?