The Mind of Mr. M

As I have mentioned many times already, the house we are living in has gone up for sale and as such we are going to have to move. I have to say that it is quite an undertaking to find a suitable home that will house seven children, a dog, a cat and all their stuff. If you include the need to house their parents, it makes things even more difficult.

What I wanted to share today was the utter fiasco the plummeting economy has created for renters or rent-to-owners. First, let's start with all the rental being subject to a potential sale. What that means is that most of the houses you are looking at renting are houses that someone is trying to sell but can't. So, they are trying to rent it, but tell you that should they have an opportunity to sell it, they are going to jump at it and leave you homeless again. We are already in that situation so moving to a place that will keep us in that situation is really not an option.

The second scary premise is what landlords are calling rent-to-own. It's really a scam if you ask me. Basically, what they are saying, is instead of a deposit, you make a down payment. Then you sign a contract saying you want to purchase that home and you agree on a price. Then after a set number of months usually 12 to 36, the contract comes due and your deposit, plus a portion of your rent (10 to 30 percent) goes toward your down payment towards a bank loan. What they don't broadcast though it is in the fine print, is that if you don't qualify for a bank loan (i.e. bad credit, etc.) the agreement falls through and guess what, they keep all that money. True story! There are SEVERAL places that we have found that are actually doing this. After some research and asking around we found that 80% of rent to own contracts fall through. It is the house purchasing scam to replace all those ARM loans.

Again, the advertising implies, those with bad credit are welcome! No credit checks! No bank qualifying!

OF COURSE! That improves their chances of someone not qualifying and them taking their money with empty promises. It's ridiculous.

The sad part, is we are renters intentionally, and though it seem crazy to some, we have outgrown all of our houses within just a couple years. We also have yet, to find a place we LOVE and want to settle in. It has worked out for us to this point and allowed us to migrate to the best paying jobs and areas for our children.

But, who knows, this time it is different. We have always made the decision it was time to move ourselves, never have we been asked to go...

Now what? I guess the saga will continue.