It basically works like this: the prospective buyer leases the home, pays monthly rent, but has an option in the rental contract to buy the home at any time, at a fixed price decided on when the prospective buyer first rents the home. While this option normally comes with an option fee (somewhere between $2-5000 is a good estimate, depending on how nice the house is), it does mean that the owner of the house can’t rent or sell the house to anybody but the renter, and it normally goes towards a down payment when the renter decides to buy the home proper.
The leasing option has many distinct advantages, but the biggest is that it eases the renter back into being a homeowner, while still keeping them afloat, financially speaking. This slow easing can help the future homeowner to avoid becoming a “boomerang buyer” and to be more financially secure when they’re ready to purchase the house. This time can also help the future homeowner in other ways; it will give them time to build back up their credit, save for retirement, establish employment, and to make sure that the house is both what they want and what they