It has never been easy to get your foot onto the first rung of the property ladder but in these economic times, it seems harder than ever. Fortunately, these tough times have brought about some more creative ways to get into property. We are talking about rent to buy schemes. So, what is rent to buy? You have to know what you are doing when you are considering rent to buy. The government has one option but it offers only shared ownership of the property. All you need to do is simply register and begin looking through a long list of properties. Once you have found something that catches your eye, contact the company and they will arrange for you to view that particular property. Next you must agree on a purchase price for said property and decide how long you want to take the option over. Usually the deal is in the range of 3 to 5 years. At this point they will work out the deposit amount and how much you will pay on a monthly basis. Then it is up to the solicitors to draw up the relevant paperwork and once that is finished, you will move into the property! As soon as you move in, you are considered to be the home owner and you are free to alter and improve the property as you please. You can buy the property for the agreed upon amount and any value you have added to the property belongs to you - the equity is yours. Once the rental period as ended, you are under no obligation to purchase the property. On the other end, the seller is not allowed to change his or her mind and refuse to sell you the property. Rent to buy may not be for everybody but it certainly is an attractive scheme for first time buyers. There are also other circumstances where people might be drawn to this scheme: *People who are having trouble coming up with a large deposit that is usually needed in getting a mortgage; *Anyone who is currently renting but wishes to be a homeowner; *People with a poor credit rating that makes it difficult for them to get into a mortgage. Here are the largest benefits for those looking at rent to buy: *Getting into a property without having to come up with a large down payment *You are able to actually live in the property while growing your deposit *The price you choose is the price it stays at so that if property values rise, you benefit; *You do not have shared ownership, you have 100% ownership *You are able to change your mind once the rental period is over, so that gives extra flexibility. So, if you find yourself in any of these listed situations, you might seriously want to consider a rent to buy option. Don't let the downturn in the economy box you in, try a creative scheme! So yes, let's discuss stratagies. 310 888 1881 - Carlo.

Related articles

• 'More householders will have to rent' (telegraph.co.uk)
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• Buy vs. rent: The great debate (money.cnn.com)
• Home ownership 'set to decline' (news.bbc.co.uk)

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