Rent To Own Options – Is It Worth It?
There are many rent to own options today, probably because of the bad economy. This is a way to get pretty much anything you would want or need for use around your house. But is it a smart financial move?
How do you fancy getting your own place? No longer living with your parents/ getting out of that house share. Being somewhere you can truly call your own. Your own space, that you can decorate your way, and walk around in whatever clothes, or lack there of, that you want to. Come in when you want, go out when you like. Cook those foods that your last flatmate hated the smells of.
When you have your own place, the world is wide open and you can enjoy life. However, it can be expensive moving in, when you incur loads of costs and when you get into the property you might not have the funds to buy what you need.
Your Situation Might Change
I actually had to use one of these rent to own options myself a few years ago. I had just gotten divorced and literally didn’t have any living room furniture – no couch, chairs or tables.
There was no cash in my account or credit on a card. So, I decided to give it a try and I got a living room set and a new TV. But, I knew at the time it wasn’t a good deal, I just didn’t have any choice.
What Actually Is It?
If you aren’t totally familiar with what this is here is a brief explanation about the process:
There are several stores that will allow you to get furniture, appliances and electronics on a payment plan.
It is kind of like a layaway (you pay monthly on your items until they are paid off) but the difference is that instead of the items staying at the store while you pay on them, you get to take them home and use them while you are paying them off.
You Will Pay More Than It Is Worth
The pay off time is usually one to two years. Many of these places will give you a lot of latitude in the payment plan and if you have an occasional (I do mean “occasional” and not “monthly”) problem making a payment on time, they are usually pretty good about working with you.
Many of these options will allow you to cancel your rent to own contract at any time so if your financial situation changes you can usually get out of your contract. Just notify them and they will come and pick the items up.
It doesn’t matter what your credit rating is either, almost everyone will be approved.
Of course, each store may have slightly different policies so you have to carefully read over all the terms of service and the fine print on the back of the contract before you sign.
All in all, this type of service can be a good way to get new items for your home if you don’t have a good enough credit rating to buy things on credit.
Consider Second Hand
It may sound like a dream come true and you may be wondering, what’s the catch? Well, the catch is that you will overpay for every item you get, that is how the company makes it’s money. If you have to and you know you’re going to pay more than you could do, then do so. But I would always suggest looking for other ways to buy, rather than doing a rent to own. This could be second hand or on somewhere like Facebook Marketplace or eBay. You don’t need brand new all the time, second hand can be fantastic!
