Experience with rent-to-own companies like Hyperion and Mack? (sale, new home) - Chicago Suburbs - Illinois (IL) - Page 5 - City-Data Forum

CaliDreaming01 · 05-08-2015, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAYMOAN

Hey guys......im down here in Ga but had questions for anyone willing to answer. We just put an offer in on a property through Homepartners. They gave us a max they would offer on the property which the seller accepted. Now by that number being the max they are willing to pay which is supposed to be market value, after the closing costs and get ready fees ranging around 5-6k plus the 5% they tack on at the end of each year. Is it feasible or plausible to expect to get a loan for almost 20k more than they purchased the home for? Has anyone bought after the first year?

TBH I really don't see much benefit in the option-to-buy part of the program. I'm in GA too, and in my area I think expecting a property to appreciate 5% a year is really too generous. I could see if it were a place like San Fran or Boston where home price can go up more than that a year, but I'm not seeing it for GA. If the asking price of the house ends up being too much over the appraisal the mortgage lender probably wouldn't approve the loan anyway.

Then again, I've read that HomePartners can generally get the houses at about 10% below market because they are buying in cash. That might make up for the extra fees and then you'd really be getting the house at a price right at market or just slightly above market. If we find a house that we would consider our "dream house" then maybe we'd consider it but that's pretty unlikely.

I think you should go in with the mindset of being prepared to walk away from the house after your first year is up and you're able to qualify for a mortgage. If the house is not a good value, then it really wouldn't make sense to buy it and you should instead get another house for sale.

I wonder what Homepartners does with the houses when the lessees don't exercise their option to buy. If the house is overpriced they wouldn't be able to sell it on the market. Also, I think 3.5% yearly appreciation on rents is excessive too. Even though supply is really low in my area, the rents are very stable. I am willing to pay the appreciation only because we get a much better rental and more options and we know we're not going to be there too long. They probably wouldn't be able to rent those houses out on the market at the price they had been getting for it. I wonder if they would be willing to negotiate at the end of that year if the housing market was stagnant.

CaliDreaming01 · 05-12-2015, 11:23 AM

Well we are well under way with our house hunting already!

One slight problem we're experiencing is that our realtor seems to be steering us to more expensive houses than we're wanting to get into. I don't know if this is because of the Homepartners program or if realtors just do this no matter what.

We've told our realtor that we want to stay in a certain price range, but she's trying to say for the area we want that it is going to be very hard. However, I've done a lot of research and know that it is very doable to purchase a house in the range we want.

So basically we don't like the realtor we're dealing with. We went with this realtor just because she marketed the HomePartners program heavily. I'm wondering if it's possible to switch.

tsworld31 · 05-12-2015, 01:31 PM

How exciting! I am applying as we speak. You brought up some good points, I wonder if you can switch if the agent your working with is no good for you, too. I also read somewhere that Hyperion homes can usually get you in the house for under 10% of the asking price which may be the reason on why your agent is looking at higher priced homes. I've been using their calculator to see what I would be paying if approved and for a home in the 300,000 range depending on area is about 2100-2400 which seems high but I'm not really sure because I'm a beginner in this search.

CaliDreaming01 · 05-12-2015, 10:05 PM

tsworld, 2100-2400 sounds about right for a home in the 300s. We are trying to find a house in the 250-300 range which would put us in the 1700-1800s for monthly rent. Good luck on your app!

CaliDreaming01 · 05-13-2015, 02:56 PM

We have already got a response back from HomePartners on a home we submitted for consideration. We are happy with the offer price Homepartners wants to submit to the seller. However, the rent estimate we were given is waaaaay higher than we expected for the price. For a 280K house we were expecting rent in the 1700's but its in the 1900s. Heck, they said my estimated rent for a $315K house we viewed would be the same as they're saying it's going to be for this $280K house.

I'm going to get some more info and update soon. The question is going to be whether HomePartners is willing to adjust their max offer price downward.

Lord Taco · 05-13-2015, 03:27 PM

I have a new job in NW WA state and decided to try Homepartners for simplicity's sake. My credit isn't bad, but don't know the area that well here yet. I am insanely busy with my new job, allthewhile my wife and children are back in TX expecting this magnificent house in the NW. So my agent suggested them. Here's it so far:

Applied with them last Thursday 5/7
Approved Friday AM 5/8
Found a great House on Saturday 5/9
Made an offer on 5/10 (lower than I would have offered. I guess cash is king)
After back&forth a couple of times
a contract on 5/12
Signed my paperwork and sent my money today 5/13
Inspections on Saturday 5/16
Closing by the end of the month.

I'll finance and buy later in the year. It's been simple, easy and painless. (so far) Out a few hundred a month. But the price they got on the house and my purchase from them will be a push at best. It's been a win-win so far. I'll keep this string posted as the deal progresses. Message me if you have questions.

CaliDreaming01 · 05-14-2015, 08:09 AM

Thanks Lord Taco for your update! It is amazing how fast the process goes.

CaliDreaming01 · 05-14-2015, 08:13 AM

I spoke with my realtor for a good hour as she explained to me how Homepartners calculates rent. The figure I was quoted is the maximum figure I can expect but my actual rent could be much lower. The list price factors heavily into the rental equation and it's really not feasible to bid on overpriced properties in hopes that the rent will be lower.

I am now going to have to wait on other properties to come on the market in my price range, or hope that this seller reduces his asking price down soon because I don't want to have to risk paying the max amount of rent I was quoted.

Lord Taco · 05-14-2015, 12:48 PM

Yeah, I understand totally calidreaming01. That's a part of their $$ making strategy I suppose. Luckily, the asking price was very low in this market and they underbid so my purchase price will be lower. I understand that all of my buy option isn't finalized until after closing and I have been in the house about a month.

Blessings to you!

Harbin · 05-14-2015, 08:58 PM

Hey there,
I submitted my app this morning to home partners. We are relocating to the Orlando area. I am so excited to read all of the positive stories. Has anyone actually been approved for the max amount of $550,000? Our combined income is very high but have a TON of student loan debt. Just curious as the area we are looking in for an average house it will be approaching the $550k limit