Every renter who wants to own is standing in front of one of three doors. House hack now. Rent-to-own first. Or save first, with a date. The problem is that from where you stand, the doors all look the same, and most people guess wrong.
Here is what each door is, why guessing costs a year, and the ten-minute step that tells you which one is yours.
The three doors
Door one: house hack now. Your credit is in decent shape. You have, or can gather from the usual places, the minimum down payment on a home you will live in. A lender would count some of the rent from the other units toward what you qualify for. You buy a 2, 3 or 4 unit home, live in one, and the rent helps carry the mortgage. You are closer than you feel.
Door two: rent-to-own first. Something is in the way at the bank. A credit score that remembers a bad year. Self-employed income that is real but hard to document. Two years in Canada and no credit history. You move into the home now, part of each month builds toward your down payment, and you buy in two or three years at a price set today. On the right home, the other unit's rent helps with the month.
Door three: save first, with a date. Nothing is wrong. You are early. The win is turning "someday" into a month on a calendar and knowing the one lever that pulls it closer.
Why guessing costs a year
Picture someone in Burlington who has been "saving up" for three years, sure she needs 20% down, with a credit score she has never looked at. She is door one and does not know it. Three years of rent went to someone else's mortgage.
Picture someone in St. Catharines who keeps applying for pre-approvals, keeps hearing no, and keeps trying a different bank. He is door two. Every application is another month, and nobody has told him the other door exists.
Both of them were guessing. Both guessed wrong. Both lost time, and time is the only thing in this you cannot get back.
The ten-minute check
We built the Ready Buyer Check to end the guessing.
It is one form, through SingleKey, a Canadian company that more than 150,000 landlords already use to check renters. You have probably filled one out to rent an apartment. It pulls your credit, your income and your rent history into a single report.
This time it works for you.
Your Found Spaces agent reads the report and calls you with your door. Not "it depends." Not a sales pitch. Which path is open to you today, and what the first step on it is. If it is door one, the next step is a 15-minute review with a mortgage partner and then showings. If it is door two, your agent explains what our rent-to-own partners look for: about 5% down, a household income around $80,000 or more, credit that does not have to be perfect, and a two or three year term. If it is door three, you get your plan and a date.
Two things, straight. It costs about $30, paid to SingleKey, and we pay it back when you buy with us (or rent-to-own through us). And if your credit is not perfect, do it anyway. Knowing is better than wondering, and door two was built for exactly that.
You keep the report. Only you, SingleKey and your agent see it.
Start here, sixty seconds and four taps: https://foundspacesrealty.ca/buy/house-hack-check. It shows your next step on the spot, and the ten-minute check is one tap further when it is yours.
Questions people ask
What is the Ready Buyer Check?
A ten-minute form through SingleKey, a Canadian company used by more than 150,000 landlords. It pulls your credit, income and rent history into one report. Your Found Spaces agent reads it and tells you which path to owning is open to you.
What does it cost?
About $30, paid to SingleKey. Found Spaces Realty Group pays it back to you when you buy with us, or when you sign a rent-to-own through a partner we introduced.
What if my credit is not good?
Do it anyway. Rent-to-own exists for people with bruised credit, and the check is how we tell whether that path, or another one, fits you.
Who sees the report?
You, SingleKey, and the Found Spaces Realty Group agent working with you. Nobody else unless you choose to share it.