I sure am glad that I lost my buyer, actually all three of them. Well, I sure wasn't thinking that way at the time. Actually, I was really upset and discouraged at the time. I read a new book some years ago about doing creative real estate and decided to give it a try, starting with rent to own deals.

I have to admit that the book was on the seat of my car as I went to my first appointments. The pages were "dog-eared" so that I could find what to say next. If I got stuck, I would say that I had to get a form from my car, and would go out and read the appropriate pages. Oh those early days…

My first deal I got a nice home where the husband had died and the wife wanted to relocate and move in with her daughter. The home was mostly dated and very "rough." I agreed to do a lease option with a four-year term. I wanted to give myself some time, and I proved to have needed it.

I put a sign in the yard and an ad in the paper. I got numerous calls, so I had a small open house and invited them all to come at the same time. Remember…that's what the book said to do.

I got a nice young couple that liked it from the start and agreed to rent it with the option to buy. We agreed on the monthly rent and also on some upfront option money down for the right to purchase the home in the future. They paid each month on time and also agreed to do some improvements at their expense. At the start of the final month they informed me that they were going to relocate and decided not buy. I was nearly devastated.

I repeated the process and found another buyer who also gave me a non-refundable option check, made rent payments and also did some improvements. Near the end of the term, they told me that they did not want to purchase and also moved out. I was again upset because I had to repeat finding another buyer and also to pay my lease payment to my seller while being vacant.

I found a third buyer and thought the third time is a charm, but it went and ended the same way as the other two would be buyers, only sooner with a divorce.

Going into my fourth year and fourth buyer. The fourth time worked and they decided to buy, got financed and completed the deal, finally. I had a happy seller and a very happy buyer, and me….

I am so glad that I lost my first three buyers. Let me recap this deal.
Three buyers gave me a non-refundable deposit of $10,000 each = $30,000
One buyer gave me a non-refundable deposit of $3,500
Monthly rental override of $7,200
On each deal the selling price increased by $5,000 = $20,000
The initial option to buy provided a proposed profit of $40,000
The final total of $100,700…I'm glad that I had four years and four buyers.

To learn more about how to correctly structure a lease option and a rent to own deal, please visit my web site today. Thank you…