General Description	Average Value	Money Down - AKA Option Fee	Avg Monthly During Lease/Option Period	Avg Monthly Mortgage At End of 1 year
Centrally located condos	$150k	$3k option fee	$1,000/month	$1,300/month
Centrally located houses	$300k	$5k option fee	$1,500/month	$2,400/month
Suburb houses - with good schools	$400k	$6k option fee	$1,900/month	$3,200/month
Upscale houses w/ private pools & good schools	$500k	$8k option fee	$3,200/month	$4,000/month
Huge houses for the affluent	$800k	$16k option fee	$4,000/month	$6,400/month
Bling Bling Houses for Celebrities	$2M	$40k option fee	$10,000/month	$16,000/month

What does an option fee mean? An option fee is converted to a down payment at the end of the lease. It is not refundable. In real estate jargon, you are paying for an option to purchase the house at the end of the lease. This prevents me or my partners from selling that home to someone else. If you break the lease, you lose your option fee. This is serious business so don't do this if you are struggling right now with your rent. Please don't stretch yourself into a property - we don't want you to lose your money.

The listings on your site all have asking prices. What's that about? This means all my deals are unique. If you have more down then the monthly will go down. If have less to put down, then your monthly will go up. Tell me what you got and I'll try to make it work. If you have collateral (car with title, jewelry, etc.) then I can work a deal.

Can I have pets ? You can have any animal(s) unless:

• You are getting into a condo. Some condo associations have weight restrictions. If you are interested in a particular condo, I'll have to look into it for you. HOWEVER, I won't do that homework until you have driven by it.

• You own a pit-bull. We have no issues with pit-bulls. We love pit-bulls! We don't care how well behaved your pit-bull is. Even if your pit-bull uses the toilet and serves tea with a bow-tie, we can't help you. The reason is because it's nearly impossible to get insurance for a home if a pit-bull is on the premises. The only way around this problem is to have your friends keep your pit-bull until your lease expires and you get qualified for a loan. After you qualify for you loan, you can wrestle with that insurance problem on your own.

Doyou accept section 8 vouchers? Yes. As long as you can come up with the asking down you are in business. Sadly, no one has ever taken up this great opportunity to buy a house using government money.

How much is the lease? Every property is different. If you look at the "MONTHLY" column on my listings page, it will show you how much you need every month. The monthly cost is a few hundred dollars more than market rent. The good news is that money is applied to your down payment at the end of the lease.

How much is converted to the down payment?

Total Down = Option Fee + (Rent Credit x Lease Period) Option Fee = $6,000 Monthly = $1,500 Rent Credit = $300 Lease Period = 12 months Down Payment = $9,600

How long is the lease? Most properties are flexible. Unless it's stated on the property page, it can be what ever you want. It is not in your best interest to have a long lease period. The sooner you qualify for a conventional loan, the more money you will save. Most people go for a one year lease. If your credit is over 550, one year is sufficient.

Can I put more money down to lower the monthly? Yes but it isn't very smart. The first reason is that you want to keep money in the bank for a rainy day. The second reason is you need to get mentally ready for the mortgage. The monthly payments you see are usually significantly less than your mortgage at the end of the lease. Click on the financial tab of each property to see what your estimated mortgage will be for that particular property.

Do I have to get a loan at the end of the lease? Yes. You will also be required to work with a credit cleaning professional and a mortgage broker with at least 6 years of experience. I will provide you with a list of people you can choose from OR you can use your own people. If you use your own people, they need to keep me posted on your progress. The key to your success is making payments on time, actively clean your credit, and make enough money to support the mortgage payments. Being late on your payments creates serious problems in getting you qualified.

What if I don't qualify for a loan at the end of the lease? You could lose your option fee and/or rent credits. It is important that you actively clean up your credit, make payments on time and make enough money to support the mortgage payments. Each property on my site gives you an estimated mortgage on that property. In most cases we will extend the contract but I don't recommend putting yourself at the mercy of someone.

If you have problems paying your rent right now, you need to step away from this web site. If you can't pay your rent on time, you have no business owning a home. Don't even call me as you will be evicted when you miss more than one lease payment. Evicting people is the part of my job that I really hate and I don't mess around.

What will my mortgage payments be after the lease? This is impossible to tell as it depends on how responsible you are between now and the end of the lease. Every property has a "Financial Tab" that gets very specific about what your mortgage will be and what your income should be. Generally speaking you will be paying $800 per $100k of house. A little less if you clean up your credit and make money, a little more if you have bad credit. Speak to a mortgage broker if you want an accurate answer. If you don't have a mortgage broker, call mine so you can get the straight facts based on the information you provide.

Are there tax benefits to these houses during the lease? No. My partners and I don't want to share the tax benefits and don't want to spend the time creating trust funds with beneficiaries. It's too much of a headache and pretty much set in our ways.

What prevents you from going into foreclosure and leaving me stranded? The number one thing you must do with any Lease/Option is to record your purchase agreement with county records. The second thing you can do is have your payments sent through a title company. By having your payments go through a title company, you will know that your payments are being applied towards the mortgage. The major disadvantage is that there is absolutely no room for error. If you are late or miss just one payment, you void your purchase agreement. Most people dont have that much confidence in themeselves and pretty much stick to recording their purchase agreement. By recording your purchase agreement, the bank gives you first rights to purchase the home. The sooner you get qualified to purchase the home the better off you are.

Can you get out of selling the property? No. Once the contracts are signed, you will take your contracts to the county to have them publicly recorded. By publicly recording the option agreement, an encumbrance is placed on the property and Title insurance will prevent us from selling the property to someone else. If we don't allow you to purchase the property on the agreed terms, you will have a case against us in Superior Court.

Can I change my mind about buying the property? Yes. However, you will lose all your money. The best strategy to take if you change your mind is to proceed through the sale, sell the property after you have secured financing and then take your money after you have sold the property.

What if I don't know if I want to stay here? No problem. You can still proceed through the option and sell the house later. If you rent, you are guaranteed to lose money. If you buy or lease/option, you have an excellent chance of making money.

What are my responsibilities during the lease? You are responsible for the first $500 in repairs, all utilities and maintenance of a pool/jacuzzi (if there is one). This means, the seller is responsible for only major ticket items like AC and roofs. You are not responsible for HOA fees during the term of the lease.

Are any of these properties available just to rent? No. We don't do rental properties. Unfortunately, I don't know of a good property management company and don't have anyone to recommend.

Are there any properties not shown on your site? No. I have nothing to gain by hiding properties. I built this site because I don't have time to call 700 people every timeI add a property. I usually post about 4 properties a week and usually the day I get them.

Can you call me when you get a new property? No. I just don't have enoughtime to call 700 people a week.

Can you email me when you get a new property? YES!!! Piece of cake. Fill out my form and you will get notified every Monday of new and reduced properties.

Can I just do a straight purchase on a property? Maybe. Most of the properties we own need to be held for a year or so for tax or loan penalty reasons. If you qualify for a straight purchase, you are better off swooping in on a foreclosure than haggling for one on my web site. If you qualify for a loan and want someone to help you purchase a foreclosure, I will be happy to recommend someone to you.

What does your "Minimum Recommended Income" mean? I've done a quick calculation of what your combined gross income should be for that house. If you meet or exceed that number, you are good to go. If you make significantly less than that number, you have a higher chance of not succeeding.

What are my chances of succeeding in the purchase? Less than 10% for those who don't follow my advice. I saved the heart stopper for last. Here are the brutal facts:

50% of you won't make it because...	You give up. About month number six you realize that owning a home is way more than meets the eye. Since you decided that you needed the same lifestyle you had before, you stretch yourself into a house you can barely afford. All it takes is one little hiccup and your world collapses. "I lost my job, my loser boyfriend gambled all the money, my kid got sick, my car broke down..." I get a country and western song every week. 80% of the people I evict are single woman.
20% of you extend your contract because...	You dilly dally and don't clean up your credit. You keep promising me and everyone else that you will get on it. Next week turns into next month which leads to next year and wham! One year went poof and you are in the same boat you were in before. The good news is that you still haven't wasted your money because most of my partners are willing to extend your option. The bad news is that you haven't made any progress.
20% of you wont make it because...	You ignore my warning that you need 3 times the mortgage to make it happen. The new job or company you started doesn't come close to the income needed to qualify for a loan. You had pie eyed dreams that you will be making twice as much as you did last year.
10% of you will make it because...	You followed my advice: 1 You started modestly in a home that you had no problem making 3 times the mortgage. As you were looking at properties, you stayed away from the ones that you couldn't afford at the end of the lease. 2 You either hired one of my professional credit cleaners or hired someone reputable to clean up your credit. 3 You didn't tell your boss to piss off. You sucked it up, kept your head low and decided to be patient for the day you qualified for your mortgage and closed escrow. 4 You saved your pennies for the rainy day when the dog got sick and the car broke down. You didn't call me with your country & western song. 5 You avoided the new car lots and jet skis. You hunkered down and stayed focused on staying away from all the traps America has to offer. You finally realized that owning a new car or dining room set won't make you any happier or sexier. 6 You hired one of my professional credit cleanersto work on your credit. You understood that credit cleaning is a constant effort and that I won't be doing the work for you. 7 You frequently chatted with my mortgage broker who specializes in working with my lease/option tenants. You also took her up on her offer of reimbursing your credit cleaning expenses at the close of escrow. 8 You didn't wait until the month your lease expired to get all your paperwork in order. You called or emailed me 4 months prior to your lease/expiration to let me know you are ready to rock.
Scams	Many people believe the lease/option market is a scam business that preys on the uninformed and misguided. Since you have read this far, I have told you everything you need to know about lease/options and you are officially informed. We want you to succeed but you have to do the work. We can't do it for you. My partners and I purchased these houses for you, now it's your turn to own them.