How You Can Help Single-Family Renters Find Their Forever Home
With a stiff rental market in many areas of the country, families looking to rent a long-term home face many challenges. Below are the top two issues renters face today:
- Low-quality options – One of the leading challenges for single-family renters is low-quality housing options. Their choices are limited to available vacancies, and they are often struggling with a well-worn rental they may not want to put their own funds into. Most renters with children are choosing their rentals based on proximity to educational opportunities. The 2018 NAR report Moving With Kids shows that 50 percent of buyers with children in the home under the age of 18 years said the quality of the school districts is an important factor when purchasing a home, and 45 percent said convenience to schools. Because of this, neighborhoods with good schools have even less options
- Rent transparency and control of lease terms – Even if a single-family renter finds an ideal fit for their family, they have little control over their own lease terms. Their landlord can raise rent at their discretion, or even decide to sell the property at the end of a lease term, forcing the tenant to move. What’s worse, even if the tenant is paying their rent on time, there is always the possibility of a landlord being foreclosed on, or an uncertainty of future lease renewals.
All of this puts the single-family renter in a precarious position; however, as a real estate professional, you can help! If you have a client looking to rent a single-family home, you may also want to consider offering a flexible housing option like the Lease Purchase Program offered by Home Partners of America.
Home Partners works with qualified renters and their agents to identify a home for sale they’re interested in. Home Partners purchases the home in cash, and then leases it to the resident with a right to purchase in the future. This unique program provides renters the opportunity to get into a great quality home in a great neighborhood that they might not otherwise have been able to access. They have the opportunity to rent the home in one-year increments for up to five years in most markets, and they have full rent certainty during that time. Renters are also given the exclusive right to purchase the home back from Home Partners at a preset price if they would like to do so. There is also no obligation to purchase the home or penalty if they decide not to.
The program is a win for all involved as agents receive the benefit of turning a rental lead into a full sales commission.
Visit HomePartners.com to see if the Lease Purchase Program is available in your area.
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Zoe Eisenberg is RISMedia’s senior content editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at zoe@rismedia.com.