Rent to Own a Chicago Condo

There are a couple of major reasons why someone would want to rent to own a Chicago Condo.  First, it is an excellent opportunity for cash strapped home buyers to accumulate enough down-payment to purchase a home.  Secondly, due to recent economic conditions it is an opportunity to repair some credit issues that will eventually put you in a place to buy a home or condo.  There are some areas that need to be considered before you make the leap to homeownership.

What is rent to own and what kind of agreements are needed?  Rent to own is in its simplest form renting a home or condo with the opportunity to purchase at a later date.  The lease to own or lease-option agreement is both a lease that allows you to occupy the home and an option that allows you to purchase the home in the future at an agreed upon price.  The typical agreement may offer a part of the rent to go toward down-payment or closing costs.  For example, $200 a month may be applied toward the down-payment where at the end of the year $2400 has been accumulated towards the purchase.

One other area to be aware of when you are interested in a rent to own a Chicago condo is the lease-option is not an obligation to buy.  It is an opportunity to purchase with the advantage of a known purchase price and a potential rent credit toward down-payment or closing costs.  In most cases if you choose not to purchase the credited rent is usually forfeited to the owner which is a form of compensation to the owner to offer the option.  Remember while you are there the owner cannot sell the property to someone else and remove you from the property so keeping a portion of the credited rent is understandable.

One last area to be aware of when considering a rent to own option is who is responsible for the taxes and insurance.  There are also association fees when you rent to own a Chicago condo and who is responsible for them while you are leasing.  Obviously the owner is responsible for these costs since he or she owns the property and enjoys any tax advantages that come with home ownership.  Of course, once you have purchased the condo or home at the end of the lease option term, you will be responsible for the taxes, insurance, and association fees but then the property is yours and the satisfaction of being a home owner.