Property Alerts

In the current housing market, competition for housing is steep.New listings come every day, and sometimes the best owns are closed within 24-hours. You must be prepared and ready to claim your rent-to-own home once it is available.

Apps and online tools (like this one) can help give property alerts throughout the day. Real-time alerts can help you beat the competition for the listings that will go fast.

Financial Preparation

In order to be completely ready, prepare yourself financially so you are in the best position to quickly pull the trigger once you find the house you want. Determine your budget, check your credit score, and balance your bank account to be ready to pay option fees, deposits, or other costs when starting a rental contract.

Housing Landscape

According to the Center for Housing Policy in the “Housing Landscape of 2012” (Source), approximately 25% of working households spend over half their income on housing.

Below is a chart from The National Low Income Housing Coalition outlining some of the higher-rent locations in regards to the Fair-market rent or FMR.

To avoid having to squeeze from your savings to pay rent, aim for a price range in last column that matches your current income. Compare it to the rent rates in your local area (check out rentometer.com) and find a cost-effective rent budget from there.