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Owing a home is a big part of the American dream. But not everyone is fortunate enough to become a homeowner due to delimiting factors such as insufficient income, bankruptcy, bad or no credit, loss of employment, etc. For people with such troubles, owning a home is a distant dream and some of these people resign themselves to a lifetime of renting. But such people are not without options. Rent-to-own, which is also known as a lease-purchase option, can be an excellent alternative available to some people who are currently unable to buy a home.
A rent-to-own or lease-purchase option is an agreement between a prospective home buyer and a home seller. The agreement is basically a rental contract with a right to purchase the property after a period of time (usually 1 year). When a home seller offers a lease-purchase option, what they are really offering is the option to rent the house at some monthly rate, and to lock in the sales price of the home now, even though the prospective buyer would not actually purchase the house until a later time (if at all).
Here is a hypothetical example. Let’s say the monthly rent for a home is $1700. Under a lease-purchase option, a prospective buyer would rent the home for the $1700 a month, but would also pay an additional premium (e.g., $200-$300) every month for the option to buy the home after a period of time (usually 1 year). So in this example, the total monthly rent is actually $2000, but $200-$300 of the money will be applied toward buying the house at a later time. In other words, the home seller would apply the $200-$300 extra paid every month toward the prospective buyer’s down payment at the end of the year.
The good news for prospective home buyers is that it allows them to lock in the purchase price of the home now, even though they are not purchasing the home until a later time. The bad news is that if a buyer decides not to purchase the home at the end of lease term, the seller often keeps the premium amount paid over the year, although this is usually a point of negotiation.
Prospective home buyers should know that many of the terms described above are negotiable such as how much the monthly rent will be, how much extra has to be paid every month for the option fee (if any), the length of the lease term, etc. The other issue to consider is if it makes sense to lock in a home purchase price now in markets where real estate prices are still declining.
When compared to renting, a lease-purchase can be an attractive alternative because it gives prospective buyers an opportunity to own a home before they normally would be able to. There are some advantages to a lease-purchase option such as:
1) Low or No Initial Down Payment. Many lease-purchase options do not require an initial down payment.
2) Equity Advantage. At the end of the lease term, the value of a home may have appreciated over time, which benefits the purchaser.
3) Living Experience. Prospective home buyers have the opportunity to try out a home and neighborhood before purchasing the property.
4) Leverage Advantage. With just a small investment, a prospective buyer can control a property; yet still have the option of not buying the home if market conditions don’t warrant it.
Rent-to-own or lease-purchase option can be an effective strategy to home ownership. However, there are both positive and negative aspects to this type of approach (as described above). A good real estate agent can help you navigate the complex world of rent-to-own and lease-purchase option properties.

Modest median price gains in new and existing homes, a stable interest rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage, decreased housing starts and a stable unemployment rate are some of the features of the 2007 housing forecast provided by major trade group economists as reported by The Inman News.
NAR chief economist David Lereah expects new-home sales to fall from 1.07 million units sold in 2006 to 975,000 units in 2007, which is an 8.7% decline. He cites decreased new home construction as a large contributing factor to this change. The median new home price of $238,400 in 2006 is expected to increase by 1.3 percent to $241,400 in 2007.
NAR also predicts that existing home sales figures for 2006 to end around 6.47 million units, which is an 8.6% decline from 2005. The 2007 forecast for existing home sales is 6.43 million units. The median price of existing homes in 2006 was $223,700 and is expected to increase 1.7% to $227,500 in 2007.
Doug Duncan, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association predicts the interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgages to stay around 6.5 percent, but mortgage originations to fall 14% to $2.1 trillion.
While Lereah predicts that the unemployment rate to stay at 4.7 percent, Duncan takes it higher and believes it may reach 5.2 percent by midyear 2007. However, he concurs with Lereah in predicting modest home price gains in new and existing homes for the coming year.
The housing forecast of The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is in line with NAR and the Mortgage Bankers Association. According to David Seiders, Chief Economist at NAHB, the year 2007 will see the housing market re-adjust itself once the housing demand stabilizes, leading to a healthy balance between supply and demand.
Looking at the state level, the California Association of Realtors (CAR) projects that the median price of California homes will end 2006 around $560,700, and will decline in 2007 to $550,000 — a 1.7% drop. The number of units sold in California will end 2006 around 481,200, and is projected to decrease 447,500 in 2007. CAR predicts that the unemployment rate will stay around 5.1 percent, although interest rates on the 30-year fixed mortgage may hover around 6.7 percent in 2007.
The overall housing forecast for 2007 made by these four major real estate trade groups is not at all bad. Home buyers and investors planning to go ahead with their real estate activities can fare better with the help of a good real estate agent.

On any given day, people can easily find articles and news stories describing an impending bust of the so-called real estate bubble. Despite this gloomy prediction, many experts believe that the recent slowdown in housing will be a gradual and modest readjustment rather than sharp bust or decline. These experts believe that factors that lead to a sharp decline in the real estate market are just not present in the current economic outlook. In fact, a recent study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University noted that “despite the current cool-down, the long-term outlook for housing is bright.”
The rise and fall of the real estate market is subject to the forces of supply and demand, and these factors point to stable and positive growth in the real estate segment.SUPPLY FACTORS
Limited supply of real estate makes it scarce and usually pushes home prices up. In contrast, an oversupply of real estate tends to put downward pressure on home prices. Despite the current slow down in the real estate market, factors that impact limited supply favor continued growth in the real estate market. Some of these factors include:
1. Builders have readjusted growth plans in regions that have an oversupply of new housing. Over time, any excess inventory is likely to be depleted and equilibrium achieved between supply and demand.
2. The availability of land in certain regions, as well land use regulations and associated compliance costs will continue to restrict the supply of new homes.DEMAND FACTORS:
Housing located in regions with high demand tend to be more expensive than homes in regions with low demand. Factors that impact the demand for housing suggests a favorable long-term housing outlook. Some of these factors include:
1. No current evidence of significant and across-the-board job losses; forecasts of relatively low unemployment rates.
2. Long-term increased demand for second homes, vacation homes and senior housing by baby boomers.
3. Long-term increased demand for entry-level homes by the children of baby boomers.
4. Long-term increased demand for entry-level homes by immigrants.
5. Long-term increased demand for entry-level homes by second-generation Americans.
6. Forecasts that the outflows and inflows of the U.S. population in and out different regions will not significantly impact the overall U.S. real estate housing market.
7. Relative stability in interest rates.
8. Continued stability in long-term home appreciation rates.
9. Overall, rising rate of wealth across all age groups.SUMMARY
In summary, strong household growth, overall rising incomes and wealth, and a stable economy all bode well for continued long-term growth in the real estate market. While the overall housing outlook is favorable, affordability will continue to be a challenge, as wages, especially in the lower income levels, have not kept up with housing costs.

The price of housing is a major challenge in the United States. Some estimates note that more than 50% of the population cannot afford a median priced home. According to National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), of the total number of new and existing homes sold nationwide during the third quarter, only 40.4 percent were affordable for families earning the median U.S. income of $59,600.
But it is good news that housing affordability on the national level has not changed much in the third quarter in spite of a rise in the mortgage interest rates during the last quarter. This was because many markets saw a slight decrease in their home prices, which helped offset the rise in mortgage rates.
Indianapolis (Indiana) is the most affordable city for homes in America, based on the 2006 third quarter report of the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The city achieved this status for the fifth consecutive quarter.
Of the total number of housing units sold in Indianapolis during the third quarter, 86 percent of homes were priced at or below the U.S. median household income of $65,100. Homes in this metro area had a median sales price of $122,000, which is slightly higher from $120,000 of the previous quarter.
It is interesting to note that the most affordable U.S. cities for homes, condos and other real estate are largely from the northern industrial metro areas. The other larger cities that top the list for affordable homes in the third quarter after Indianapolis are Youngstown-Warren-Boardman (Ohio-Pennsylvania); Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn (Michigan); Buffalo-Niagara Falls (New York); and Grand Rapids and Wyoming (Michigan).
The report also lists the top seven smaller cities in America that have the most affordable housing markets. These are: Bay City in Michigan, Springfield in Ohio, Mansfield in Ohio, Lansing-East Lansing in Michigan, Lima in Ohio, Battle Creek in Michigan and Canton-Massillon in Ohio.
For both major metros and small metros, many of the least affordable cities are located in California. The least affordable major metro areas are Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Modesto, Stockton, and San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, in that order. The least affordable smaller metros (less than 500,000 people) include: Salinas, Merced, Madera, Napa, and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria.
The good news for homebuyers is that there are many affordable cities in the United States. Moreover, even for cities that rated poorly for affordability, there may be some communities within the larger city that have affordable housing. For example, although the San Diego metro in California rated poorly overall for affordability, there are some communities in San Diego priced to meet the needs of lower-income home buyers. A good real estate agent can help you choose a community where you want to live based on your housing budget and needs.