Hello Kim,
I am an owner of a 3 bedroom brick ranch home in the waverly school distirct with a basement the length of the home and a large back yard.
I am very interested in discussing the lease with option to buy option.
The current renter is a PHD student who' s lease ends Aug 25,2009.
I also am working with a realtor in East lansing that may be able to help us with the paperwork.

Please give me a call for a showing at 517-214-1369.
I work for the State 8am-5pm so I will have to call after that.

Carla

Kim, I would agree with Mike, without a Buyer's Agency Agreement agents are working for the seller. There will be homes in the Multiple Listing Service for sale, but also offering a lease or land contract option. They may not meet your specifications for asking price and/or monthly lease payment.

I suggest contacting at least one, but preferably 3 agents, inform them up front you are looking for a Buyer's Agent, and interview each. A sample Buyer's Agency Agreement is available on the website below. There will be some variation depending upon the broker.

I suggest looking on this website for homes. http://www.lansing-realestate.com/index.cfm BUT remember, the agent listing each home cannot be your Buyer's Agent for that home.

Kim, My experience with this type of purchase is that you find a good Realtor, explain your situation, and just go out and write on the property you're intereted in. Most sellers are not interested until the documents are right in front of them offering the lease option. A Realtor will not spend the time neccesary to find you what you need without a buyer agency agreement in place. This agreement can be structured to have the seller pay the buyer agency fee, with first month's rent going to the Realtor and the balance upon a successful closing. If it never closes the Realtor still is compensated for his/her time.
I hope that helps you, if you have any other questions I can be reached at mike@mikebowler.com
I can assist you to find an agent, who will do a good job for you in Lansing, 48917 because my office is there and I live there.

Good question. Yes, there are many houses sitting on the market just like what you want that could be purchased with a lease-option.

Here are various ways to find your home with a lease option.

To find lease-options, you often have to use some creativity. Most aren't listed on the MLS.

If you use a Realtor (a good idea, by the way), your Realtor has to go beyond searching key words. And there are plenty of ways you can find a lease purchase on your own, as well.

There really is no "best" way to find them. It depends on your neighborhood, what you're looking for, what you can afford, your comfort zone. (Are you willing to call up people who are advertising their houses to rent and ask them if they want to offer a rent-to-own? Some people are; some aren't.) So, read through the list and pick 3 or 4 that make sense to you.

Here are just a few ways.

**Using a Realtor**
[Note: If you use a Realtor--which is fine--ask them how they'd find lease-purchases. If they can't come up with more than 1 or 2 of the answers below, find another Realtor.]

--Some lease-purchases (for simplicity's sake, from here on I'll call them lease-options--in other parts of the country, similar arrangements may be called rent-to-own, land contracts or contracts for deed) are listed in the MLS. Not too many, but some. That's where to begin. However, that's not where to end.

--Search for homes that are listed both to rent and to sell. There may not be any comment that the property is a lease-option, and maybe it didn't even occur to the seller. But a property that a seller is willing to lease, but is also willing to sell is a perfect candidate for a lease-option.

--Search for homes that are listed for rent, but were previously listed for sale. It's likely that the owner was trying to sell the house, but wasn't able to. Now he/she is willing to rent it. That's another perfect candidate for a lease-option.

--Search for homes that are listed for sale, but were previously listed for rent. In today's market, there will be fewer of them, but it happens. Again, another great candidate for a lease-option.

--Search for homes with expired listings. The owners wanted to sell, but weren't able to. Many will consider renting the property, especially if it's vacant.

--Search for homes listed for sale that are vacant. The owners are hurting. They might appreciate the cash flow they'd receive from leasing the property.

--Search for homes listed for rent that are vacant. Again, the owners are hurting. And most owners of single family homes are "reluctant landlords." That wasn't their long-term strategy. Especially if they're bleeding, they may just want to get the property off their hands.

***Not Using a Realtor***

I'm not advising doing it yourself, but you certainly can. Any competent Realtor--and there are many--should be able to find you plenty of lease-option opportunities using the strategies above. However, here are a few other ways to do it.

--Advertise on sites like CraigsList for a lease-option. Advertise under both the rental and purchase areas.

--Go through the papers and look for properties that owners are trying to rent out. A lot of them won't be listed in the MLS. Approach them and explain that you'd like to rent their property for awhile, then have the option to purchase it.

--Look for FSBOs. Same basic pitch to them. You'd like to buy their house, but would like to rent it first.
--Choose a neighborhood you like. Knock on doors. Ask, "Do you know anyone in this neighborhood who might be interested in selling their home?" Often, you'll turn up people before the home is listed. Again, you explain you're interested in buying, just renting awhile first.

--Put cards up in your local supermarket.

--Attend a meeting of your local real estate investors club. It may cost $10 or $15, or maybe nothing. There's usually a time near the beginning of the meeting when investors can stand up and offer or solicit deals. You can stand up, too, and announce that you're looking for a rent-to-own. Specify what you're looking for (number of bedrooms, baths), geographic location, type of property (townhouse, single family home, etc.), maximum amount you're willing to spend on rent and purchase, and anything else that's relevant. Print up some one-page factsheets with details. Make sure you put all your contact information on there. To find your local real estate clubs, go here: here: http://www.creonline.com/real-estate-clubs/index.htm -