How does Rent-to-Own Benefit the Community? (Part 1)

In every city across the country, that are stats showing a direct correlation between % of homes owned, and % of the population affected by things such as crime, poverty, sub-par education, unemployment, sub-par health, high vacancy rates, etc.

Obviously, there is no simple way to solve these problems that are affecting so many inner-city neighborhoods, as there is clearly multiple factors causing the problem.

However, when my home city in Upstate NY recently published it's City-Wide Housing study, it became very clear to me that in neighborhoods where the majority of homes are owned by out-of-state investors, crime and sub-par living standards run rampant.

Note: a good tool I like to use to see these types of stats nation-wide is www.bestplaces.net

After speaking to our city council-member about the issue, I learned that the top city officials were already well-aware of the dilemma. He also pointed out that Pride in Ownership leads to houses that are better maintained, and increasing property values. Unfortunately, many of the people that live in these neighborhoods have rented their entire lives, their mothers and fathers had always rented, and their grandparents were life-long renters.

Home Ownership simply isn't a conceivable option for them. Not because they don't deserve, can't afford it, or don't want too... in my experience the inability for them to buy for themselves is caused primarily by a lack of role-models, lack of financial education, and a lack of professional resources to assist them.

Believe me, I see first-hand how MOTIVATED some of these people are to buy homes (at least initially) before they are told "NO, NO, NO" time and again by agents, banks, etc. Due to lack of financial education, many of the people in these types of neighborhoods have bad or no credit at all, and have never learned the importance of savings and investments.

However, in America, we pride ourselves on being the "land of opportunity" and for good reason. In this great country of ours, rags-to-riches stories are commonplace, and anyone can be successful with the right resources.

That is why any good Rent-to-Own program MUST be partnered with a system for helping these people get a good financial education, including credit repair counseling.

With the right resources in place, we can positively impact these communities by turning the population of life-long renters, into responsible home-owners. With pride in ownership of one's home, comes pride in ownership in one's community. Some of our Rent-to-Own buyers have gone on to become active members in neighborhood associations, block clubs, and local religious organizations. All of them, learn about the importance of, and how to better maintain their properties.

The goal to clean up our inner-city neighborhoods is one that we must not lose sight of. Rent to Own is indeed a great option for Sellers/Investors (especially during this crazy credit crunch) but it's also important to realize the impact we can have the Buyers and the Communities (remember: win-win-win!!).

Fixing the problems of our inner-cities won't be an easy task, and it won't happen overnight. However, good Rent-to-Own programs CAN allow us to make an impact, one house, and one street, and one neighborhood, at a time!

For more information on structuring Rent-to-Own Transactions that are easy, safe, and are a benefit to the community, please visit www.SafeRentToOwn.com