Dave Turnquist

Timmira, any Realtor can help you find a rent to own home. It will be hard for you to locate this type of property on your own because the "Public MLS" often does not allow "rent to own" as a search category. However, agents have the capability on the "Realtor MLS" to run all kinds of searches that are not available to the public, including "rent to own". Just tell your agent what you are looking for and they can find the properties available and email them directly to you. If you are looking in the Greater Houston Area I'll be happy to help you. - Sat Jul 26 2008, 06:39

Contact a buyer's agent that is familiar with the neighborhood and values in that area. Be sure they are tech-savvy enough to communicate everything you need. If there's no virtual tour online, ask them to go preview the house and send you their own virtual tour. - Wed Jun 4 2008, 09:18

Easiest and fastest way is to ask any agent to run a CMA for you and email it to you. You can use the comps for your protest with HCAD. - Wed Jun 4 2008, 09:11

Unfortunately this is one of the few times that the tenant does not have the upper hand. Your lease is with the owner, but the owner has, in essence, broken his contract with the lender. That agreement supercedes your agreement. I ran across a client in the same situation and they contacted the bank that was foreclosing on the property and worked out a temporary arrangement. - Wed Jun 4 2008, 09:05

Without a doubt, real hardwoods will bring more value but if you're doing it just to sell it quick, it's probably not worth it. I have seen investors using hardwoods in homes that are being flipped now because they got the house so cheap and had to make a lot of upgrades anyway. In this case the hardwood pays for itself. Sounds like you are going to stay for at least 10 years, so the best advice is that any improvement you do is worth it if you are going to live there for 10 years and you are going to enjoy the upgrade yourself. - Wed Jun 4 2008, 08:59