Q: Can a real estate lawyer help me with rent to own property
The process
A: If you are buying a property on a land contract, I recommend you have it prepared or reviewed by your own attorney before entering into such a contract. Often these types of contracts can favor the drafter (the person preparing the contract) so if you are considering entering such a contract it is wise to either have your lawyer draft it for you and you present it to the seller or buyer, or if someone has presented you with the contract already, review it with your own lawyer and make any changes desired before signing. This is what I have seen with land contracts (which is a way of purchasing a property with seller financing but sometimes gets confused with "rent to own" that is why I mentioned it here). As far as a rent to own contract, your contract will start out as a lease with an option to purchase (so you start out as a tenant, but the contract includes an option to purchase and if you exercise that option the contract changes to a purchase), but generally the same advice applies. I would recommend reviewing or drafting any such contract with your own attorney before signing and entering such a contract. I would look for an attorney who deals with both landlord-tenant law and real estate law for help with this matter. It also depends on if you are the person looking to rent a property this way, or if you are the potential tenant. No matter what side you are on you should make sure you understand all of your rights and responsibilities before proceeding. Nolo has a good article summarizing the pros and cons of these types of contracts available here https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/the-basics-rent-own-agreements.html
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