Hi-
I am on the verge of making my first deal with a lease option/purchase. The one thing I have to be honest about is that I am TERRIFIED that I won’t be able to find a tenant/buyer once I execute the deal. I live in Atlanta and there are just so many houses available, the tenant/buyer pool just doesn’t seem to be that big. There are too many beautiful houses in this area that have been on the market for months for me to be confident that I will find someone in a reasonable amount of time
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get some tenant/buyers lined up?
Thanks!
start putting ads in the paper so you can gauge the interest. there’s alos a service called tenantstream.com. i think they have a 7 days free trial. they had quite a few leads for san diego, california.
yeah i agree with niravmd, its always a good idea to out ads in the paper
beaver124
An ad in the paper and/or there are web sites where you can advertise your rental for free. I’m sorry I can’t even give you any specific ones - just google FREE FOR RENT or something - they’ve always been easy for me to find. Then in the comments you could state that you’re wanting to do a lease w/ option to purchase.
You might also call on some of the existing lease-to-purchase ads that are running. Make sure that you’re going to be competitive…maybe even go look at some of them. We’ve learned a TON about what NOT to do by going to look at other people’s properties that they’re trying to rent/sell!! 
A couple of things I’d keep in mind…people usually want to do lease/purchase-type deals because they’ve ruined their credit and it’s the only way for them to own a home. So they’re not in the same “market” as people just looking to straight lease or buy outright.
Are you really tight on the numbers - having to get high rent to make the deal work, or do you have some play?
It will be fine. We do both, but on our rentals that we want to keep just as rentals we always have people begging us to do an option to purchase.
Keep us posted!
Karla in Amarillo
I think that’s a great idea. I will swing by and look at some properties and call around to find out more info. Someone also told me to go to tenantstream.com, which isn’t a free site, but seems to be very helpful. I signed up for the free trial and got about 30 leads on prospective tenant/buyers.
I am gaining momentum again thanks to the encouragement/advice I have received…thanks a bunch… 
Terror?
Shouldn’t that be telling you something? Any investment plan that creates terror in your heart is a plan you need to reexamine before proceeding further.
Stop and examine what you’re doing. Trust me, terror should not be a part of it.
You’re absolutely right . . . signing up this deal with no one ready to move in is crazy. Don’t.
What you’re doing is not investing. Investing requires, among other things, Certainty, and once that piece is in place, that terror thing will no longer creep into your deal.
How to create certainty?
You have someone in place and committed prior to you signing your name on the dotted line.
How?
You build a contingency time period of 10 to 14 days to allow you to do your “due diligence.” That’s normal and accepted in the real estate business.
And what is your due diligence focused on?
Finding that tenant buyer.
If you can’t in 10 days, you probably can’t in a month, or two, or three (don’t ask me how I know this).
If that tenant does not materialize, you politely decline to close the transaction, as is your right, no harm no foul. If you do get that tenant lined up, have him approved and his money in hand, then (and only then) do you proceed to closing.
Recognize, however, that we never buy anything based on simply a willing tenant. That is moving in the right direction but is lacking in a number of other areas you’ll also need to consider.
Certainty is imperative and a good cure for terror. It is one of the things we consider critical in any “what makes a deal, a deal?” discussion.
Joe Kaiser
You have given me some excellent advice here. I think I am going to print this out and keep it on my desk so I can read it often. Thanks for your straightforward comments!!
Run “dummy” ads for rent-to-owns that do NOT exist. You’ll get calls from dozens of prospective tenant buyers. Tell them the house has been leased, but you are in the business of finding RTO’s for clients, get their name and number, how much ‘option consideration’ they have, what monthly payment they can handle and what areas they’d like to live. Tell them you’ll call them when you have something you think they’d be interestd in.
This is called creating your buyer’s pool. You need to have a pool of buyers to close your deals quickly. Doing the house first and then having to produce a Tenant/Buyer out of thin air creates “terror” and grey hair at the same time !
(I love this message board!!) Buzz- that idea is like excellent to the 10th power!! What an easy way to get people on a waiting list to buy your houses!! Thanks!
It works.
Keep the ad simple and get as much info from every caller as possible like I mentioned above.
Then, start finding houses for these people !
Good Luck!