New Residential Construction, Loans, Referrals and Affiliates, Free Book...

Hi Everyone,

A Happy Friday to All.

Things have been simmering here at HomeRun Homes, with traffic to our website at all-time highs, and we are proud to say that we have received the most "Thank You" E-mails from our customers within one week since we began doing business 8 years ago.

OK, some important news coming out next week:

Tuesday the 18th brings the newest figures for New Residential Construction - Building Permits, Housing Starts, and Housing Completions

Friday the 21st brings the Loan Performance Housing Price Index


These are both very important numbers. The announcement of New Construction, coupled with Housing Prices, should paint a better picture of where things have been over the past few months, and if they are positive, they can hopefully continue throughout the summer and beyond.

Now, we usually like to throw some exciting promo on the table at least once a week, so we are letting everyone know that we offer a generous Referral and Affiliate program. If you are interested in learning more, please leave comments here, or you can send an E-mail to homebuyer@lease2buy.com with the subject line of "Referrals/Affiliates", and we'll send you more details. It's a great way to earn some extra money and some free months on your Ads.

As a final note, we are responding to a question from one of the buyers who has received a large amount of responses from sellers this past week. Our best advice is to make a document or spreadsheet with the name and contact info of each seller, along with the details (prices, etc) of their homes. Once you have it all down visually, it's much easier for you to make a decision and make further reminder notes once you have viewed their properties. Good luck, and we hope you found your new castle !

Remember, we are offering a Free Copy of "Secrets of Rent to Own", when you purchase an Ad of 3-Months or longer.

If you're Looking for a Rent to Own Home, you can get your very own "Home Wanted" Ad at http://www.lease2buy.com/prospectivetenants.php

If you're Selling a Rent to Own Home, you can get your very own "Home Available" Ad at http://www.lease2buy.com/prospectivesellers.php


Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !!

Great Real Estate Deals, Home Staging, Rehabbing....

Hi All,

Happy Wednesday to everyone.

It's been an exciting week at the HomeRun Homes campus, and to all of you who have thanked us for bringing you such a deluge of quality responses to your Ads...you are quite welcome. Our goal is to bring traffic to our website so buyers or sellers can find you, and you can Find a Rent to Own Home or Sell a Rent to Own Home. Basically, we are just doing our job, since we work for you!

We wanted to re-emphasize a fantastic article, called: "7 Cities With Great Real Estate Deals", which runs down some of the hottest returning markets. If you read through the article, you'll see that there are a lot of unpolished gems out there. Further, you will see our name mentioned in the article for Atlanta, and also for Orlando, Florida (and Central Florida), since we believe that these are two of the hottest markets right now.

This leads me to the next item, which is that our 8-Year anniversary is around the corner. We originally got our start buying and rehabbing homes in Central Florida (Read our full background here: http://www.lease2buy.com/rent-to-own-homes.php). One of the first homes we renovated is this one:



We will tell you more about this in the coming weeks, as our June anniversary approaches, along with some fantastic offers...stay tuned for your exclusive opportunities to be announced here in our company Blog!

The last item that we wanted to discuss is Home-Staging, which has gained quite a bit of momentum in the recent market. For example, I have a neighbor who was stuck in his home for 8 months, he could not sell, and he was not in a position to Rent to Own the home. I had a Home-Staging company get in touch with him, and they came in and revamped his entire home. During his next Open House, he got a few offers, and he is actually in contract now. This is a handy service. Are you a Home Stager? If so, please tell us more about your work.


Have a Great Day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Silly Real Estate Sayings, Huge Traffic, Featured Ads...

Happy Monday to Everyone,

A taste of fall is in the air here on the East Coast, but as we all know...not for long!

We have a very exciting week ahead, as many of you who already have Ads on our website can imagine. We have had a humongous surge in traffic on the website over the past few days, and a lot of you have been deluged with responses to your Ads.

Please always respond to them as quickly as possible to show them you are serious, and that you want to rent to own your home or find a rent to own home fast ! With the end of the FHA Tax Credit, people are realizing the benefits of rent to own more and more each day.

Website tip of the week: With all of this huge additional traffic, this could be a great time to put your Ad on top of the State page where you have the Ad, so these visitors see you before anyone else! (We described this feature in detail in the following blog post: http://www.blogging.lease2buy.com/2010/04/lease2buycom-updates-featured-free.html

One of our customers suggested this to us over the weekend: "Get more Sellers selling lower priced properties.". The short answer is that we can't control the values of the properties that are posted on our site. Now, that being said, price is relative, and by that, I mean that a price that is high for one potential buyer might be just right for another. A quick glance through our site will show prices on the very low end numerically, on up to a few mega-mansions with high-end numbers. It's all a matter of taste and preference. A seller of a "low-priced property" may be in just as much of a need to sell their property as a seller with a "high-priced property". Again, "relative" sums it up.

Some food for thought on a very interesting article on Yahoo Finance, titled, "4 Biggest Lies in Real Estate". To summarize, they listed them as: Phony Photos and Videos, Valuations Lacking Value, Mortgage Rates You Can't Get, and Unreal Property Descriptions, plus, they also tossed in a "Euphemism Alert".

The interesting thing about the Euphemism alert is that all of you have probably read these types of Ad descriptions, for example, "Handyman's Special" (you have to gut the whole property first), and "Great View" (you'll break your neck twisting your head out the window to see the water). Some of these just go with the territory, and the old rule of "Caveat Emptor", or Buyer Beware, applies here.

Either way, this makes a great educational read for those of you on either side of the table, as a buyer or a seller.


We will check in with you during the week with more information.


Have a great day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Facebook, Twitter, Podcast...

Hi All,

Hope you had a great week!

We just finished up with an interview for a new website focusing on home buyers in the 20-35 year old range, and that article should be out late month (or early June), so we will keep you posted.

It's been a really quiet week in terms of Economic News for the Real Estate/Rent to Own Market. We are just watching the market and that horrendous spill in the Gulf.
We pray that they cap it before it damages the wildlife and the local Gulf businesses. As a side/personal note - Gulf Shrimp and Gulf Oysters have always been my weakness.

We have just had our Facebook profile shortened to a much prettier address:
http://www.facebook.com/homerunhomes, and as some of you already know, our Twitter Address is: http://www.twitter.com/homerunhomes

Do you see a pattern emerging in the naming?


OK, so a News Flash: We are boldly looking to endeavor into the world of Podcasting, which for those of you who are not aware of them, they are basically Blog Posts, but in a voice recording that you can download and play on your Ipod or MP3 player.

Now, I am not crazy about my recorded voice, however, a lot of you have spoken and asked me to do this. So the answer is, "Yes", I will give it a try.

If our team is able to successfully organize the techie side of it, I will post the Podcast here on the Blog. Apparently, this saves a lot of time when you can listen to the Blog as opposed to reading it. Please be patient as we try to figure this one out - I'm off to do some voice exercises now (kidding).

Please check back Monday for more news!
Have a great weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !




My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-820fd66e75f39e338c13a2a4fd033585}

Expansion regardless of Economic Conditions

Hi All,
Hope your week is going well so far.

We have been letting people know about our newsletter, and we have many new subscribers, so we welcome them!

We also know that once they are visiting our site, they will be seeing and contacting both Buyers and Sellers of Rent to Own Homes, so the snowball effect occurs. Let me explain - you are offering a home, they need a home, they see your Ad, they contact you, you make a deal, and everyone is happy. If they have a home they are offering, they see your Ad, they contact you, you make a deal and have a new home! The circle of life; happy visitors make happy customers.

On to another topic:

We live in what was a small town out in Eastern Long Island. We moved back in 2005at the high point of the market, however, the traffic has exploded as new subdivisions have sprung up everywhere, and the influx of people coming "out East" has been so dramatic, that they recently began expansion of our main road from 2 lanes to a 4-lane highway.

This is another sign of "Sprawl", but most importantly, it's a sign of flourishing during a difficult market. The empty stores and shops with the whitewashed windows has slowed, and new businesses have moved in. It's incredible how communities spark back to life, and this should be happening all across the country. Would it be too much to ask for a Starbucks near me?

I hope everyone has a great week, and we'll check in with you later in the week to give you some more updates.

Have a great day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Free Quarterly Rent to Own Newsletter

Hi All,
Hope you had a great weekend !

We have a lot of ongoing projects this week, but we just finished our most recent one, which is a quarterly Rent to Own Newsletter.

Some more information below (This is our Press Release that just went out regarding the Newsletter):

********************
For Immediate Release:

HomeRun Homes
(631) 676-3609
(631) 574-2420
homebuyer@lease2buy.com
http://www.Lease2Buy.com

Free Quarterly Rent to Own Newsletter Offered by HomeRun Homes

Ronkonkoma, New York, May 3, 2010 - HomeRun Homes (www.Lease2Buy.com) is now offering a free Newsletter regarding Rent to Own Homes. This quarterly Ezine will cover the topics of Buying or Selling a Rent to Own Home, along with tips, hints, and other news and information from the Real Estate and Rental Home markets.


FHA Tax Credit Expiration and the Real Estate Market

With the expiration of the FHA Tax Credit on April 30th, Rent to Own will become an even more popular option for purchasing a home. Since the popularity of Rent to Own has increased dramatically over the past few years, HomeRun Homes has added new services to help those seeking these type of Creative Real Estate deals. This free Newsletter is one of a series of benefits that the company has offered, along with providing a place for Home Service providers and Commercial Real Estate owners to offer their services or their properties to the vast amount of visitors that the website attracts.


Accessing the Rent to Own Newsletter

HomeRun Homes suggests that both potential Buyers and Sellers should educate themselves on the Rent to Own/Lease Purchase/Lease Option market before pursuing it as an option to buy, and these interested parties can download their copy of the Rent to Own Newsletter at: http://www.lease2buy.com/rent_to_own_homes_mailer.php


For additional information on the topic, "Free Quarterly Rent to Own Newsletter Offered by HomeRun Homes", please visit www.Lease2Buy.com


ABOUT HOMERUN HOMES

HomeRun Homes is a Centralized Marketplace which helps people Find or Sell a Rent to Own Home, or offer Home Services nationwide and globally to the thriving Rent to Own market.

- END -
********************


OK, we have a lot of cool stuff coming up this week, so keep an eye here, and have a fantastic and productive week!

Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Pending Home Sales and Real Estate Trouble Spots

Hi Everyone,

Hope everyone had a healthy and productive week. Not only is Friday upon us, but yes...May is upon us !

Living on the East Coast has it's perks, and being a couple hours away from Atlantic City is one of them. That is if you enjoy that kind of stuff. I came across an article citing Atlantic City as one of "Tomorrow's Real Estate Trouble Spots". No surprise that Atlantic City, N.J., is on top of the list, however, I always thought that aside from the Casinos, the area outside of the bright lights was depressed, in terms of home prices and the economy. So, basically, it's more of a yesterday and today "Trouble Spot". As a side note, this was from a survey of 315 cities, so the sampling size they used was pretty large, and it carries some weight with it.

We have been doing a lot of internal work on our site, in terms of aesthetics and our database. We will have a new Press Release coming out next week, and we'll be sure to notify everyone here regarding it.

Next Week (Tuesday, May 4Th), The Pending Home Sales Index numbers will be released, and this should be reflecting the tax credit for (new) home buyers.

Finally, for additional background on our Rent to Own website and a peak at our history, please read more about us here: http://www.lease2buy.com/rent-to-own-homes.php

A lot of exciting and cool stuff coming next week - so stay tuned.
Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Lease2Buy.com Updates, Featured, Free Offer...

Hi Everyone,
Happy Mid-week to you.

Today, we are just giving you some updates on the website, along with another FREE OFFER - Free Offers are Cool!

First, just an update on the ability to Feature/Upgrade your Ads.
We have completely redesigned and updated the Top Spot/Featured Ad Pages for the following types of Ads:

Buyers/Homes Wanted at http://www.lease2buy.com/top_homeswanted.php, and

Sellers/Homes Available at https://www.lease2buy.com/top_homesavailable.php

Both upgrade options are available either upon placing an Ad, OR, via your Login/Control Panel (from the "Log In" button on the homepage, or directly via http://www.lease2buy.com/login.php). When you log in and "View" your Ads, there will be a "FEATURE/SHOWCASE THIS AD" option next to the Ad.

Remember: There is only ONE "TOP SPOT" Featured Ad per State (we can only allow one on the top of each State without it getting cluttered).


Website Tip of the Day:
How to get "ONE FREE MONTH" added on to the Ad you have already placed !

When you log into your account (from the "Log In" button on the homepage, or directly via http://www.lease2buy.com/login.php), there is a button that says, "Survey".

If you click that button and fill out a short survey with your very useful comments/questions, not only will this be very helpful to us, but we will also add one extra month to the Ad you have placed!!

How's that for a sweet deal?

When we receive your comments and questions (on anything - the site, the design, suggestions, the market - anything), if they require a response, we will reply.

If it is an incredible question or comment, we might even post it here on the blog and respond to it here, especially if it is something that can help everyone.

Check back later in the week for more interesting news......

Have a great day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning
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Troubled Cities, Creative Real Estate, FHA Tax Credit, and more

Happy Monday to Everyone,

We hope you had a great weekend, and were successful in wherever your ventures took you, whether it was looking for a home, selling a home, or just enjoying some time with your family. On a personal note, we spent the weekend with our toddler going from Chuckie Cheese to a few of those inflatable bouncy places. I've had enough pizza and gummy bears to last me a lifetime !

I came across an interesting story that I wanted to share, and it is worth taking a look at. It's titled, "10 Cities Facing a Double Whammy of Default Risks", and it lists cities which are not only in the throes of major home value declines, but also have other dominating economic issues as well. For example, the top city on the list was Las Vegas, and the article cites speculation and wild loan-types as the contributor to the decline in housing prices, construction, and jobs in the Metro area. The other cities listed are Merced (California), El Centro (California), Port St. Lucie (Florida), Fort Myers (Florida), Bend (Oregon), Ocala (Florida), Detroit (Michigan), Rockford (Illinois), and Toledo (Ohio). Although they are all different cities, some of the issues read like a script. This is an important read if you live in these metro areas, or if you are considering a move there. On the flip side, if you are an investor the specializes in rent to own or creative real estate deals, you might have a ground-floor opportunity in helping to revive these areas !

A side note - This Friday, 4/30, the Tax Credit for new home buyers (of up to $8,000) will expire. We wrote an article on this earlier, and you can read it here:
http://www.blogging.lease2buy.com/2010/04/details-on-fha-tax-credit-for-home.html

OK - back to working on our website and getting more traffic to your ads !
Have a great day, and we'll chat again on this Wednesday !

Happy Rent to Owning !

Special Offer, Social Media, Mobile, Home Prices...

Hi Everyone,
Happy Friday - we made it through another week!

It's been a busy week here, and we want to cover a few things, as well as announce a New SPECIAL OFFER, since the one from last week was a HUGE hit with everyone!

First off, some business:

We continued aggregating our site across the Social Media Aggregation sites to ensure our Blog reaches new visitors - in plain English - this means more and more visitors to your Ads - a very good thing !
Additionally, we continued developing StopForeclosureRenttoOwn.com, our newest venture, with the goal of reaching people in desperate need of housing!
Last but not least, we continued preparing our site for Mobile users - it's a huge project, since there are so many models of mobile devices, but very important!

Next - Upcoming Economic Events:

Tuesday 4/27 - S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index:
Per Standard and Poors Site:
"The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices measures the residential housing market, tracking changes in the value of the residential real estate market in 20 metropolitan regions across the United States."

Now - for the SPECIAL OFFER:

For Every Ad placed, whether it is a "Home Wanted", "Home Available", "Home Service", or "Commercial Property" Ad, you will receive a Free Copy of "SECRETS OF RENT TO OWN" (Click here for info on this book)

Now, normally, we only do this when you purchase an Ad of 3-Months or longer, however, just for today - that is until 12 Midnight EST today 4/23 - when you order ANY Ad (1 month and longer), you will receive a free copy of the Guide

Sounds Good?

OK, here's how this will work, step-by-step:

1. Place an Ad at one of these links (click on of the following links):
Looking for a Home? - "Home Wanted" Ad
Selling a Home? - "Home Available" Ad
Offering a Service? - "Home Service" Ad
Offering a Commercial Property? - "Commercial Property" Ad

2. Remember - the above pages will say you get the book for a 3-Month or longer Ad...This is a SPECIAL OFFER direct from management!

3. Once you have placed your order, send an E-mail to homebuyer@lease2buy.com with this subject:
"Ad Placed - Send me Secrets of Rent to Own"...we will verify, and then E-mail it to you immediately.

Remember - this is a SPECIAL OFFER to our members !

Thanks, have a great day, a great weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !!

Local Promotions, Coupons, and Anniversary Coming Soon...

Hi All,
Happy Hump Day, and I hope you're all having a great week !

We have just completed some local advertising here on Long Island (but as you know, we serve the entire country, as well as all countries, globally, that use Rent to Own arrangements (i.e. UK "Buy to Let" and Australia "Vendor Finance").
Along with this advertising, we have also added a Coupon Code (You can find the Coupon Code here for use by anyone: http://www.yourli.com/listing/homerun_homes.html)

Since we are on the topic of "local stuff", we are located on the East End of Long Island's Suffolk Country. When we first relocated here in 2005, there was never any traffic, however, the traffic has increased so much, that they are now converting our main road from 2-lanes to 4-lanes...after all, this is an island - next thing they will do is fill in our lakes and build on them - just kidding - but space is so limited and they keep building...let's hope the rest of the country and the residential market does just as well!

With that being said, our 8Th Anniversary is coming up in June, so stay tuned for contests, promotions, and cool give-aways.

And be sure to FOLLOW THIS BLOG by using the "FOLLOW" link on the right hand side of the page. We promise to keep it exciting !

Have a Great Day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning

US Cities, Secrets of Rent to Own, and Joy

Happy Monday to All,

We hope you had a productive weekend.

First, we would like to thank all of the winners of the Free Copy of "Secrets of Rent to Own", and we hope you enjoy reading it and putting what you learn into action! For those of you who missed out, you can check out this handy guide, "Secrets of Rent to Own", at this link: http://www.lease2buy.com/rent2ownbook.php

If you would like to be included for a personal Pre-Blog notification of further contests and give-aways, please send an E-mail to homebuyer@lease2buy.com with the Subject Line, "This Blog-Reader wants in !"

On the flip side, we saw an interesting article worth mentioning, that discussed U.S. Cities In Free Fall, and I, personally, was amazed to see only Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville in the top 5. Orlando/Central FL was not in the top 5, and I found this actually encouraging. I don't know - I am open to your comments on this one. No matter what they say, there are deals to be had, and in some of these areas, there are pockets of recovery - again, I am open to comments on that as well.

On that note, I hope everyone has a great week. Be sure to choose "FOLLOW" us (Right Hand Column of this page) to be notified of new Blog updates, new contests, new information (and all around joy...OK, well, LOL on the "joy" part).

Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning

"7 Cities With Great Real Estate Deals"

Hi All - One more Update....


We were interviewed for this article - we commented on a few markets:
Read it here: "7 Cities With Great Real Estate Deals"

Happy Rent-to-Owning !

Existing Home Sales, and Secrets of Rent to Own Contest

Happy Friday Everyone,

Can anyone believe it is just about the end of April? Weren't we just shouting "Happy New Year!". WOW!

OK, a few things to cover here, along with a cool contest!

We had a very interesting interview with American Express (Open Forum - for a new publication that will be released in June). We discussed the "twenty-something" age demographic, and how a Rent to Own agreement (or lease purchase/lease option) can be beneficial to them as either a buyer or a seller. The interview will be published in June (we'll post a link to it when it's out), but I'm told the format will be similar to their current publication.

On the Housing Front; Next week, there are some very important figures coming out: "Existing Home Sales" (National Association or Realtors, or "NAR"), and also, "New Residential Sales". These are both very important figures for everyone, so let's keep a close eye on them.

Now - for the Contest !!
To the first 5 people who send us an E-mail (at homebuyer@lease2buy.com) with the Subject line, "SECRETS OF RENT TO OWN, we will E-mail you over a Free Copy of our E-Book, "Secrets of Rent to Own".
More details about the E-Book are available here: https://www.lease2buy.com/rent2ownbook.php


***REMEMBER: We can only do this with the first 5 people...The Contest ends by 7PM EST Today, or whenever we get the first 5 E-mails, whichever comes first - so Good Luck !!

Have a Great Day, a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !

FHA, Rent to Own, Foreclosure...

Good Day Everyone,

Just wanted to say how amazed we are at all of the Scams taking place to beat people out of the $8,000 Tax Credit. We have seen and heard a lot of horror stories, so please, no matter how desperate you are to buy or sell, please be diligent in researching who you do business with.

Just a side note that we have launched a joint venture that offers help to people in foreclosure or who have gone through it, and cannot find a new home. It's a really bad position to be in, and there are way too many people there right now. They know that they have to stop foreclosure, but they also know that they need a new place. We felt that our Rent to Own website was not reaching more of these people in dire need, so we joint ventured to create www.StopForeclosureRenttoOwn.com (which is still being neatened up, appearance-wise), and have launched the site this week.

This is a two-fold benefit: It will help these people who are in trouble, and it will help you by bringing more traffic to your Ads.

Have a Great Day, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !