Question about renting to owning?

i saw a few houses to rent on craigslist with an option to own. Owner says, half of the rent we pay will go twoards the down payment for the mortage.. can someone explain the advantages and disadvantages to this technique?
Example... rent is 2000 but if we decided to buy the home, 1000 of each month is considered downpayment which would make the rent like 1000...

thanks

There are a lot of variables. Are you agreeing on a set purchase price now? How long will you rent before you have to buy? What if the market goes way up (or down)? You'll have to do a lot of the things as if you were buying the house now ... engineers report, attorneys contract, etc...
Who is responsible for maintenance while you're renting?

What you're really doing is paying someone an 'option' to buy the house. If you decide you do not want to buy the house, you are out the $1,000 a month (12K dp), which goes to the landlord and paid $2,000 a month for rent.


Is the apt worth the 2K in rent a month?
Are you sure you want to buy it?

Generally, (remember I said generally) this is a better option for those without a DP/ poor credit, etc. who want to buy a houes and see this as a way to build credit, and build a downpayment, but if you decide not to buy, you're out the extra money.

google the terms lease to own and rent to own...

it's big down south and we were considering the option. Basically the owner holds the deed/title to the house while you pay him and when you've paid it off, the mortgage and papers go into your name. Not too many disadvantages

Don't do a deal like this without talking to a lawyer first and getting advised.

While it may work for some... its very easy to get scammed in this kind of deal.