Tag Archives: rent to buy

Record Penalty for Rick Otton

On 15 November 2018, Rick Otton and We Buy Houses received the highest penalties ever imposed in Australia for breach of Australian Consumer Law. The Federal Court imposed penalties totalling $18 million against We Buy Houses Pty Ltd (We Buy … Continue reading

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Lease Options

In this post I consider some examples of rent-to-buy houses (lease options) which were provided by the people who promote them.  Even these positive examples offer very little benefit to an unsophisticated ‘buyer’ in exchange for significant financial risk. It … Continue reading

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One more ‘rent-to-buy’ risk – property values

In addition to all the other risks associated with rent-to-buy/vendor finance deals, the ‘buyer’ must gamble on a minimum increase in property value over a short-term.  An examination of some historic property price fluctuations shows how high this risk this … Continue reading

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When the going gets tough, the tough get …evasive?

How have prominent rent-to-buy figures responded to challenges?   The rent-to-buy industry has faced some challenges over the past few years, including negative media coverage, attention from regulators and a series of prosecutions.

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Rent-to-buy selling techniques

This post is about selling techniques taught by Rick Otton.  While not all rent-to-buy operators would use these techniques, it is likely that they are used widely in the industry. Many – perhaps most – of the people in this … Continue reading

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Rent-to-buy houses – is it legal?

Update:  Most rent-to-buy property agreements are prohibited by law in South Australia and Victoria.  Check state legislation. While a number of rent-to-buy websites respond “yes”, this question could refer to any one of many different transactions. The term “rent to … Continue reading

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Big comeuppance for ‘Big Kahunas’

The problem with ‘creative’ or ‘innovative’ strategies is that that the application of the law to the transactions may not have been tested in the courts.  I’ve written previously about what can go wrong for buyers and unsuspecting sellers, and … Continue reading

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Do banks suggest rent-to-buy?

I have written previously about a claim about a Census question supports the legitimacy of rent-to-buy transactions. In this post I’m considering the claim that “even the banks are suggesting rent-to-buy”. I don’t claim that ‘rent-to-buy’ transactions aren’t legal. Most … Continue reading

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Acceptance of rent-to-buy – the Census question

“This proves rent-to-buy is accepted!” (Update August 2016 – In 2016 the words in the Census question were changed from “rent/buy scheme” to “shared-equity scheme” suggesting that my conclusion in this post – that the question never referred to vendor finance or … Continue reading

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“Rent to Buy” houses – what can go wrong?

Just google “rent to buy” and “win-win” – those phrases seem to just go together!   It just doesn’t always work out that way in reality. This is not legal advice and the problems listed here may not be relevant to … Continue reading

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