WE ALL LOVE A HAPPY ENDING!
Once upon a time, there was a family that wanted to get into home ownership. No special or dramatic story. Two parents, two kids. They liked their current rental home, but the owner needed to move back into it.
And so their journey began for a new place to live. Too big, too small, too old, too run down, …. House hunting isn’t an easy process, as a tenant or a buyer. Then they came across an ad for a Rent to Own, 3 bedrooms, cute yard, big basement. Yup – it had everything they hoped for. But they were skeptical of the Rent to Own process. How does it work? Could it work for them?
They investigated a bit further. They loved the house! What if they could finally become homeowners instead of tenants? They went through the initial screening process and passed with flying colours: good jobs, good income, strong references, etc…. Next up, it was time to talk to the mortgage broker and credit specialist.
The mortgage broker pulled their credit, and asked for some documents. Even though it would take 3 years to work through the Rent to Own process, all of this work needed to be done up front. It sure seemed like a lot of hoops to jump through, and what if they didn’t even get the house? But they were committed!
That part of our story was the fall of 2019. We all know the drama that began in 2020! Those were stressful times for everyone. This family made some sacrifices to continue paying their rent, and working through the savings program. They didn’t miss even one payment!
Their initial plan was 3 years to home ownership. Ah, but the world changed dramatically, banking rules changed, interest rates changed, etc…. They were devastated in October of 2022 when the mortgage broker had to tell them, “not quite yet.” Would this be the end of their home ownership story?
Luckily everyone in this story was committed to the same outcome! The broker continued to work with the family: adjust this, tweak that, add another bit here, …. The property owner/investor decided that no one could have predicted Covid, and this family deserved extra time to line up all those pesky ducks for bank financing. Everything was extended and papered with new contracts. The family jumped through more hoops in the past 8-9 months than they ever thought possible!
Today, the family signed all the paperwork to become homeowners!!! It was a hard-fought battle, with a worthy goal. They have already been living in their dream home for over 3 ½ years, and now they OWN it!
We present this lovely positive story for our investor colleagues today because there is often so much negativity around the current real estate market. There are many ways to invest, many solutions to provide, many customers/tenants to serve. This is simply one Option (pun intended for those of you who already understand Rent to Own). We have intentionally not provided a step-by-step guideline for Rent to Own, because the rules seem to be ever-changing. And we emphasize the “last minute pivot” in our story, because this is so normal in today’s real estate investing world.
We hope there are some happy endings and battles won on your Financial Freedom journey this summer! Happy Canada Day, eh!
