I ran across this article from by Jason Bronis from the Associated Press entitle, “As market falters, lease-purchase plans gain traction”.   It’s an interesting article about how distressed buyers and distressed sellers are using the “lease-purchase plan” in increasing home purchases, especially in the hard-hit markets in the U.S..    Here’s a Snippet as directly quoted from the article:

“Enter the lease-purchase option, which is surging in other hard-hit states such as California and Nevada, says Jim Grissett, an adjunct professor of real estate at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

“At a time when we have both distressed sellers and distressed buyers, I think it makes a whole lot of sense,” Grissett says.

Customers include Cecelia Robinson, 57, a writer who says she fled her home near Baltimore after a bad business move left her on the verge of foreclosure. Pride of Ownership Partners is leasing Robinson a three-bedroom, 21/2-bathroom home that the company purchased from a bank and renovated.

For three years, Robinson can continue paying rent, or opt to buy the house for the price an appraiser set at the time she moved in. If she chooses the latter, the company will give her a down-payment credit totaling half the rent she would pay over the three years, even if she decides to buy sooner.”

Here’s The Link: http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_estate/20090607_As_market_falters__lease-purchase_plans_gain_traction.html

While the Greater Baton Rouge could hardly be characterized as a “faltering market”, I wonder if the use of “Lease-Purchase Plans” are on the rise in our market?   I’m not seeing an increase, but then again, it would seem a rare occurence for the buyers/sellers to obtain an appraisal on a lease purchase deal. 

Bill Cobb, Appraiser