Reading recent articles about lease options reminded me of not only the lease option buying that I have done over the years, but also of the tremendous advantages of selling on a lease option. My income increased dramatically when I discovered the benefits of selling on a lease option and your's will also.

The two biggest benefits are:

1.Selling without paying a sales commission 2.Receiving a higher than market purchase price (than you would if you sold conventionally)

First, by eliminating the need for a Realtor, you save 6% to 7% right off the top! On some properties this amount could be your entire profit. By selling on a lease option to your tenant you "cut out the middleman (Realtor) and save substantially. Furthermore, when your tenant holds the option to buy, he doesn't have to move after the closing.

What this means to you (the owner/optionor) is no vacancy during the marketing period. Obviously, the smartest way to use a lease option is to offer them to all of your tenants first.

As a side benefit, I find that the caliber of tenant is much better too. They tend to take better care of the property because they feel like homeowners. They pay their rent more timely, and they pay for improvements out of their own pockets.

Secondly, the purchase price I quote to prospective tenant/buyers is 10% to 15% higher than market value. I do this because at the end of a one-year lease option, the property will probably be worth more than it is today. I also do this as a premium charge for not paying me cash today.

I know that many people say don't lock in a price today and to make the option price based upon the appraised value when the option expires. After being married to an appraiser for twenty-five years,

I disagree.

My wife/partner/appraiser tells me that, if an appraiser has a value to shoot for, it is much easier to appraise the property for what you want, than if you just ask the appraiser to tell us what it is worth. I think we can all read between the lines and figure out the advantage, right?

My experience tells me that only about 25% to 35% of the people who hold lease options actually exercise those rights. So, if this is reality, set up your lease options to benefit from this fact. I have a one-year extension right built into my options that allows

the tenant/buyer to extend our one-year deal for another year.

What does it cost him? First, the option price is increased by 5%. Second, the rent is increased by 7%. Why? because you want to cover myself if property values continue to increase in the second year of the option, and rents always go up every year. Don't they?

I want the tenant/buyer to know that if he absolutely has to extend our deal, he can. Rember to always be as fair as you can be with your tenant/ buyers.

Another benefit to having 65% to 75% of the tenant/buyers not exercising their options is that they forfeit their option consideration. If you get heavy into the business, this can add up to some big bucks. Last year I received $37,000 of forfeited option

consideration (and I only do about five or six per year).

The bottom line to this business is that you really don't care if they exercise their option or not, you will make money either way!