Option Tips

Lease Option Tips and Strategies

Lease Options can be fun and profitable, but there are certain pitfalls. The following are some practical, legal and tax tips I have learned from doing many lease options deals over the years.

Protecting Your Option

Lease options are great, except when the seller decides not to live up to his end of the bargain. Sure, you can always sue the seller to force him to sell you the property, but this can cost you thousands of dollars in legal fees and take years to accomplish. You need to be in a better position if you want your investment to be protected.

Here are three good ways to protect your option:

1. Record the Option. If your option was signed before a notary, you can record your option in the public real estate records. This will give the world public notice of your interest. If the option was not notarized, you can sign an affidavit called a “memorandum of option” and file it in the real estate records where the property sits. Keep in mind that this does not create a lien, it only creates a “cloud” on the title.
2. Escrow the Deed. If your seller has died or disappeared, you will have a big problem getting him to sign a deed. An escrow should be created up front in which a title company or attorney holds an executed deed. When you are ready to exercise, you simply tender the money to the escrow agent and collect the deed.
3. Record a Mortgage. Typically a mortgage is recorded to secure payments on a promissory note. A mortgage can be recorded to secure performance of any agreement, even a purchase option. You as optionee (buyer) will now be a lien holder, in the same position as a secured lender. If the seller refuses to sell the property, you foreclose. Now the seller has to go to court to protect himself, rather than the other way around.

Sell Your Option for Capital Gains Treatment

If you lease/option, then sub-lease/option, we call this a “sandwich.”   When your subtenant is ready to buy, you simultaneously “buy and flip.” This profit is taxed as ordinary income. If you held the option more than a year, you may qualify for capital gains treatment. Instead of selling the property, sell your option and let your subtenant exercise it directly from the owner.

Take A Loss On Your Personal Residence

As you may know, you cannot write off a loss on the sale of your personal residence. However, if you lease option the property you may be able to convert it to a rental and take a capital loss when the buyer exercises.

Happy Investing!