baron14

Hi, It was previously mentioned to use (one dollar) $1.00 as a flex option consideration fee. How would one handle it, if one was doing many transactions virtually, other than mailing $1 bills all over the place? Thanks, baron

Hi, It seems that a seller would accept a non-exclusive option more easily than an exclusive option, but wouldn't it also be easy for the buyer and seller to go around your back and do the deal with a non-exclusive option? So how do you keep the buyer and seller from going around your back, just do an exclusive option? Thanks, baron

Hi All, I was wondering, instead of chasing after sellers and trying to talk them into doing a deal, how does one get sellers to come after you, to tell them more about your potental solutions for them? What about an email that says something like: "Home not selling quickly? If you are interested in selling your house quickly for full price and pay no commission fees or closing costs then contact me." Then when they contact me I tell them about the "lease purchase concept". I didn't want it to sound like an ad, like I'm selling something, but like a regular buyer. Any thoughts? Thanks, baron

Hi Lynn, How are things in your neck of the woods? In my area Baltimore / Washington metro area lease option deals are like finding a needle in a haystack. Prices are rising here and people are looking for cash deals like wholesale, rehabs, buy and hold and creative deals are not common here. Lease options may be better in markets where houses are not moving.

Hi Wildwestinvest! Yes, I would prefer to deal directly with the homeowner but I've had no success with FSBOs & FRBOs. In this area the sellers want CASH and and the landlords want to be landlords and are not interested in doing a lease purchase since the market is stable here. So how are you getting leads in your area? I'm looking now to work at doing CAs remotely in some areas that are more receptive to the LO concept.

Hi...I would prefer to work directly with FSBO & FRBO from Craigslist, etc. but like I said I've had no success finding any leads so I tried contacting listing agents for houses about to expire to see if there is any interest in doing lease option terms. Someone told me that if you get a L/O contract with a Seller of a listed property, then most Agents expect at lease 1/2 of first month's rent or one full first month's rent upfront and then they get the balance of their commission from the Seller when the house sells.

Hi MichaelC, The way I understand it, John Jackson sends out a couple thousand mailings to listed properties. My budget will not allow that now, so I contacted the Agents to see if they had any homeowners that may consider doing a lease option deal. I will then contact the homeowner let them know their Agent said they may be interested in a lease option. Then I will give them the normal lease option explanation: who I am, what I do and the benefits to the homeowner and advise the homeowner to notify their Agent. I'm not clear on what happens if the homeowner continues to try and sell with listing Agent and we then strike up a lease option deal (SLO or CA) with the homeowner and put a T/B in the property on a lease option? Is the listing the cancelled and the Agent is paid when the property is sold or is the Agent paid as a leasing Agent as if the property is rented? Thanks!!

Hi MichaelC, I tried for many months now to contact FSBOs & FRBOs on Craigslist & Forsalebyowner & Kijiji & Backpage & FSBO basically asking would they consider doing a lease option. The FSBOs showed zero interest. There were two FRBOs that showed interest but when they found out I would not be living in the place they were not interested and the other stated they were not interested in doing lease options with a third party. I read that John Jackson had some success dealing with listed properties so I decided to give it a shot and see if any properties that were not selling or about to expire or landlords that would like to be free of the typical landlord and management hassles. One Realtor told me that there was not much interest in lease options in this area. Another Realtor had a house for rent & for sale. Bingo...maybe a lease option deal. This Realtor said yes, the owner would consider doing a lease option.

Hi Steve, The word "investor" has a negative connotation in this area, so where I referenced 'my company' I would use my company's name so they will know this is a business and also stop them from pulling my credit report and background check every time I inquire about buying a property because it will be 'my company's name' signing the contract. Most of the sellers that have listed properties in this area will tell you "go talk to my agent" when you contact them, so you end up right back with the agent anyway. Most of the time the sellers will not discuss anything with you. I will send the seller the information so they will have it in front of them to review and we'll see how it goes. I was thinking the option money can be used towards the commission to help the seller pay the commission since the commission is paid by the seller at closing. Thanks!

Hi Steve.... In my initial contact with the Realtor, I already mentioned to the Realtor that she would get her full commission. So I should just mail the seller and tell them their Realtor advised me the seller may consider doing a lease option and then give the seller the general overview of the process or should I let the Realtor know that I'm contacting the seller as well. I don't want to give them the details and mechanics of the business but the benefits and general overview of what will happen in the deal. What do you think? Thanks.

After find out from the Realtor that the owner would be interested in doing a lease option on the property, I would then tell the Realtor: "I specialize in lease purchasing and I can do a long-term lease where my company will lease the property for a specific period of time and have the right to purchase the property during that time at a pre-determined price. We’ll guarantee the rent payments and cover the day-to-day maintenance and repairs during the lease term. If the numbers don't work for us to lease the property ourselves, we are currently working with several pre-qualified families that are looking for a nice house in your area and may be interested in leasing your house with the right to purchase. If this is something the owner may consider, then please contact me and I'd be happy to discuss it with you." I was thinking if I was doing a SLO, the first part of the message would give the Realtor my plans and if I did a LOA, the second part of the message would show the Realtor that plans for a LOA. Any thoughts on this? Thanks!

Hi All, I asked a Realtor if their seller would consider doing a lease option and the Realtor told me that the owner may consider doing a lease option. The Realtor also asked about my credit, pre-approval, etc., so she seems to think it's for me and I will be living in the property. How do I approach this deal with the Realtor? I know many in this forum recommend doing some lease option assignments first before doing a sandwich lease option. Not sure if this is s good fit for a SLO or not yet. If I go the lease option assignment route, should I just tell the Realtor that I'm a property management company and I have some pre-qualified tenant/buyers that may be interested in the property and they have agreed to make on-time payments and take care of the day-to-day maintenance and repairs during the lease period? I can think of a variety of angles depending on SLO or LOA route to approach it, but I would like to hear the best approach from the pros here to keep things simple and smooth. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for the help!! -baron

I see what you are saying now. Even though the Assignment Agreement would wipe out the deal with the Seller and me (after all three parties sign), the Seller and the T/B would both be left holding docs with my name and the Seller's name on it. -Thanks.

Oh I see, Thanks MichaelC and Steve for your expert help!

Hi, I'm trying to get clear up and get a handle on the CA. After you sign all the required docs with the Seller, you then find the T/B, collect your assignment fee and sign the assignment agreement. So do you then destroy the original docs (lease and option to purchase) with you and the Seller and then have new docs (lease and option to purchase) signed with the Seller and the T/B, so that your name is out of the loop? Also, when all three parties sign the assignment agreement, the Seller will know how much profit you made from seeing the assignment fee on the assignment agreement? Thanks, baron