According to Denny Huston, at least for the foreseeable future, banks will require anywhere from 10% to 20% down, plus closing costs, several months escrow, insurance and more.

In recent months, the Federal Reserve has reported more and more banks returning to traditionally tighter lending standards and requirements on all forms of home mortgages – in response to the recent sub-prime financial crisis, the days of zero-down, no qualifying loans are long gone.

Additionally, even with new federal legislation on-the-table aimed at protecting borrowers from unscrupulous vendors, possibly temporarily freezing interest rates and stalling foreclosures for qualified borrowers, most economic experts expect the financing collapse to be more long-term than initially expected. When that turns out to be the case, it could be easily three, four, five years or longer before the glut of housing inventory is back in line with the supply and demand.

Denny Huston, Regional V.P. and Master Franchisor for the Advantage Rent-to-Own home program says, “While it’s true the disastrous effects of the sub-prime collapse are unfortunately being felt not only nationwide but world-wide, the uncertain housing market and return of more stringent lending practices offers new unprecedented opportunities for Rent-to-Own homes.”

According to Huston, at least for the foreseeable future, banks will require anywhere from 10% to 20% down, plus closing costs, several months escrow, insurance and more. At minimum, a 200,000 home will require between $20k and $40k upfront.

In contrast, in most cases through the “Advantage Rent-to-Own A New Home” program, potential home buyers can rent-to-own the home of their choice for far less upfront out-of-pocket costs. In a typical comparable situation, the renter may need only $3k to $5k upfront which is credited towards the closing of a pre-approved loan within a 2-3 year period, plus first and last month’s rent of which 20-30% is placed into an escrow account and applied towards the down payment at time of closing.

Included in the exclusive ARTO System are government tax credits and on-going credit repair counseling which may result in favorably-adjusted interest rates to the RTO customer at the final closing.

After a 3 ½ year track record, Advantage Rent to Own reports an 85% conversion rate with 440 homes currently in the program.

“Through Advantage Rent-to-Own, every credit challenged individual who wishes to own a home now has the opportunity to do so,” says Huston.

A partnership between Farnsworth Realty Brokerage Specialists and CAC Marketing, Advantage Rent-to-Own is seeking “aggressive and seasoned” rent-to-own professionals that want to add to their existing RTO portfolios and expand into an explosive housing industry that now has a surplus of homes and “gun-shy” lenders.

RTO experts can either work hand-in-hand with licensed Real Estate Brokers or Realtors as a lead source and earn commissions on the front-end and back-end, or they can work hands-on in joint partnership the Broker-Agents overseeing a completely different RTO division within their existing Real Estate operations.

Licenses and territories for qualified applicants are available throughout the Midwest, Central, South & Southwest regions.

To learn more about Advantage Rent-to-Own opportunities contact: Denny Huston, Regional V. President and Master Licensee, (210) 661-7778 or (877) 222-7861 or e-mail: Dencotx@satx.rr.com .