Overcoming "How do I get paid?" with Realtors When Doing A Lease Option Or Rent To Own by:Wendy Patton

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The number 1 objection I hear from real estate agents when the subject of doing a

lease option or rent-to-own is broached is "How do I get paid?" Sometimes the agent will be concerned about how they get paid but don't want to flat out ask it. So instead they'll say things like "Lease Options are too risky! You(home seller or home buyer) don't want to do that." This sounds a whole lot better than, "I don't want to do a lease option sale because I'm not sure how I'll get paid." Now keep in mind that not all agents are like this, it's just that the ones who do object usually object for this reason.

Times have changed now and many real estate agents are more open to the idea of lease options or rent to owns. That's because the real estate market is down and more and more agents are willing to be creative to get things done. But there are definitely still some holdouts who only want to do conventional sales. The reality is that some of these agents will never change their mind but some will, especially if you are their client and you insist on it or suggest you'll find someone who will. So bear in mind that the suggestions I'm going to offer will work with some agents (the ones who still want to make a living in this market) and won't work with others (the ones who absolutely refuse to do anything besides conventional sales).

So, let's look at how to tackle the "How do I get paid?" question.

With a lease option or rent to own a real estate agent will get paid PART of their commission (maybe 1% to 2% in this market) when a tenant-buyer signs contracts with a rent to own seller and pays an option fee. The real estate agent's partial commission will come out of the option fee. The remainder of their commission will get paid when the lease option buyer actually buys the seller's home. Obviously this is not as desirable as doing a conventional sale where they get paid their full commission right away.

BUT, conventional sales are a lot harder to come by now. The mortgage crisis is affecting everyone, even A+ credit buyers need to have larger down payments than before. This means that if a real estate agent is only doing conventional sales their income has dropped. Look, I'm not saying that rent to owns are the perfect solution for EVERY situation. They aren't.

So how do you handle a real estate agent's objection to rent-to-owns?

Let's say you want to buy a home on a lease with an option to buy. You approach a real estate agent to be your buyer's agent and tell them that you can't qualify for a mortgage right now but you want to buy with a lease with an option to buy. The agent objects and says "You don't want to do that it's too risky!" You can tell the agent that you understand the risks, (read my book - Rent-to-Buy - and you will definitely understand the ins and outs of rent to own) and that you are interested in finding a rent to own home. If the agent still poses some objection explain to him that you are a real buyer, while they won't get a full commission up front as they would with a conventional buyer, they will still get paid and isn't that better than just turning you away? If the agent still objects after that, find another agent. By the way, once you find a real estate agent who is willing to represent you for rent to own make sure they read my book Rent-to-Buy to be sure they are giving you good representation.

Now if you are a home seller and you've decided that rent to own is right for you (again, read my book - Rent-to-Sell - and you will definitely know whether this is something you want to do) so you suggest it to your real estate agent. Your agent objects. Explain to your agent that your home has sat on the market for a while now and if you don't find a buyer soon you would have to rent it out because you don't want to keep paying that mortgage. If you just rent the home the agent is only going to get about 1/2 months rent for their commission, which is definitely less than they would get if you do a lease with an option to buy. Your other option is to find another agent in which case your current agent would get no commission at all. Now isn't it better to consider rent to own instead of the alternatives? When you explain these things to your agent don't be confrontational, do it in a way that makes it clear you want to work with them but that the current method of selling your home just isn't working. Also, once they agree to do a rent to own with you make sure they read Rent-to-Sell!

About the author

Wendy Patton, http://www.wendypatton.com, is one of the nation's leading experts in lease option or rent-to-own real estate. She has trained thousands of real estate agents, real estate investors, home sellers and home buyers in doing lease options or rent to owns. She is the author of 4 books, Rent-to-Sell, Rent-to-Buy, Investing in Real Estate with Lease options and Subject to Deals, and Making Hard Cash in a Soft Real Estate Market. Her books may be purchased on her website, http://www.wendypatton.com

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