Joe’s Blog | Joe's South Jersey Real Estate Blog

3 Lease Purchase Myth Busters

by Joe Montenigro on June 14, 2010

South Jersey Lease Purchase Homes

It seems to me that people get caught up in looking for a lease purchase because they think that it’s somehow better than renting…. in most cases, and this is just my opinion, it’s NOT. Maybe it makes them “feel” better than renting?

Myth Buster 1…..The truth is that if you don’t clean up your credit so you can get a mortgage your wonderful Lease Purchase ends up being aregular old rental and if you don’t pay the rent, you get regular old evicted.
Myth Buster 2….. your rent CAN NOT get applied 100% to the purchase price because the lender that you use to get a mortgage to buy the house is only going to let the seller credit you amounts that you pay over and above the fair market rent for the property, as determined by their appraiser at the time of the purchase.
Myth Buster 3…..it makes more common sense to find an affordable rental in a good location with a Landlord who wants to RENT long term(and not pressure you to buy) and then you can take your time to fix your mortgage qualifying problem(s). THEN once you can get a mortgage there are LOTS of houses to choose from and you won’t be limited to only lease purchase homes.

The other problem I see in the market today is sellers who can’t sell thier property, decide to rent or lease purchase without knowing all the responsibilities of being a landlord. It’s not easy being a landlord and most home sellers don’t know what they don’t know….this creates all kinds of tenant headaches and potential disputes…. maybe I’ll cover that in the next blog article In the mean time, see below my current list of affordable rental homes in South Jersey that might be a good alternative to a lease purchase.

Showing properties 1 - 1 of 1. See more Joe & Val's rentals.
(all data current as of 7/29/2010)

$1,400 : 524 E Church St, Blackwood

3 beds, 1 full bath

Size: n/a

Lot size: 6,900 sq ft

Year built: 1970

Parking spots: 3

Days on market: 57

Listed with RE/MAX Home Team

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Share this post:

{ 0 comments }

Top 3 Mistakes Home buyers make

by Joe Montenigro on February 13, 2010

I’m sure I’ll think of several more common mistakes as soon as I’m done typing this As a full time real estate broker in South Jersey, I see this kind of thing all the time as I list and sell homes. So here they are, in no particular order….

[Read more…]

Share this post:

{ 0 comments }

South Jersey Real Estate Broker….part time Psychologist

by Joe Montenigro on January 2, 2010

Some people are really crazy, but when buying a home in South Jersey I think many people might qualify as temporarily insane! Everyone wants a good deal, but no one seems to know how to define it. If you don’t take the time to define it, how will you know when you got it?
keep reading here

Share this post:

{ 1 comment }

1st time Home Buyers…South Jersey Starts Here

12.23.2009

This is real estate 101… for the first buyer’s in the crowd!
Before I get started, let me first say how important first time buyers are to the south jersey real estate market and to ANY real estate market for that matter. With out first time buyers, move up home sellers can’t move up. It’s estimated [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

The Hidden Killer contingency every Home Seller should look for

03.30.2009

South Jersey Real Estate Broker exposes a hidden deal killer
Yes…it’s a killer and it’s quite hidden until you know exactly where to look for it.

Share this post:

Share this post:

Read the full article →

Get on FaceBook… 6 steps to sending referrals to your favorite Realtor

03.25.2009

Hello my Facebook buddies…..We all like our friends, right? So here are 6 easy steps on how to take care of your friends who are looking to buy a home in South Jersey… and how to send a referral to your Favorite Realtor…… uhmm, that’s me…. and of course I’ll make sure they get the best service, [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

South Jersey REALTOR works for FREE… and sometimes BEER

03.10.2009

If you never knew (or never really cared) how real estate agents get paid, you might be surprised that we actually work for Free ! Yes it’s true…. kind of.
When selling your South Jersey home, we enter into a listing agreement which explains that my brokerage fee is contingent upon successfully selling your home. No [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

Good deal….or not a good deal? Take the QUIZ

02.25.2009

When you buy an house, how will you KNOW whether you got a good deal or not? A commom misconception is to see how much the seller discounted the asking price and then decide if that’s a “good” discount or not. I’m not sure how you magically guess the appropriate discount to qualify for a [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

Advice for new Investors… cheaper isn’t always better

02.20.2009

If you’re at the clothes store, and you buy a shirt off the clearance rack for 90% off, is it a good deal? What if it doesn’t fit you or it’s just plain ugly !? I’ve been getting a lot of calls on a really low priced bank property from would be Investors looking for [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

Snappy answers to stupid Real Estate questions

02.11.2009

(Warning, another rant about to start) If it only happened once or twice I’d be fine, but I can’t count how often I’m showing a propety to a prospective home buyer and as we walk in to the house, there’s no furniture, no curtains, no appliances, no evidence of human life or activity for centuries. [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

what do you WANT? ….just TELL ME !!

02.10.2009

(Warning… rant about to start) I just LOVE IT when an investor/ home buyer tells me they want a “good deal”. Thank you, Captain Obvious, I didn’t know that.
So what if you went into a diner to eat and said…. “give me something that tastes good” …they would look at you [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

What are Points and why do I care?

02.02.2009

Points are the closest thing to legalized bribery! When applying for a mortgage to buy a house, you can pay the lender a fee to get a better interest rate. The fee is called a point and is 1% of the amount you borrow. You could pay one or many points. The point costs you [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

What’s my mortgage payment gonna be ??

02.01.2009

Even though there are tons of mortgage calculators on the web, here’s a quick and easy way to ballpark your monthly mortgage payment in your head. If the house is $200,000, just multiply by 10% and subtract “a little bit” So, your payment should be a little under $2000/month…maybe $1700/month would be a good guess, [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

How’s the market?

01.29.2009

It’s a question that I get all the time…. but what’s the REAL question? Maybe some people are just making small talk because they know I’m a broker but many, I believe, want to know if it’s OK to buy a home. Watching the news is scarey and there’s no shortage of uncertainty in the [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

to sell or NOT to sell…THAT is the Question!

01.21.2009

Actually, the question is whether you should Sell first or Buy first ?? Let’s say that you own a home but want to move to a better home. Most people start the process by looking for the new home first… and then it hits them…. how am i going to pay for this thing?! For [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

Not all REO’s are toilets!

01.09.2009

I was talking with buyer recently who was looking for a home in my neck of the woods in South Jersey and he made some comments that he though all bank owned properties were in bad condition… the technical real estate lingo is toilet ha ha …but it’s just not true.
South Jersey [...]

Share this post:

Read the full article →

South Jersey Homes and Real Estate

12.26.2008

Hello South Jersey,
I’ve been a real estate broker in South Jersey for about 20 years. I know stuff. Ask me questions about buying a home or selling your home in South Jersey. Don’t be shy. While it’s true, that I don’t make my living giving out free advice, I can spare a few minutes to [...]

Share this post: