What exactly is rent to own with Upswing?
Two agreements signed on the same day: a 36-month residential lease, and a separate option to purchase that gives you the right, never the obligation, to buy the home at a price that is written down and locked for the full 36 months. In Spanish-speaking Tulsa this is what people call dueño a dueño: you deal directly with the owner, and you don't need a bank to move in.
What does the advertised price include?
The price on every listing is the total cost of the home. It's made up of two numbers: the option fee and the purchase price written on your option agreement. Example: a $150,000 home with a $7,500 option fee has a purchase price of $142,500. Pay the option fee and you've already covered the first $7,500 of the total.
How does the option fee work?
Every home shows its option fee and the smallest amount you can pay at signing. Pay the whole fee at signing and your monthly payment is just rent. Or pay the smaller amount at signing and spread the rest over 24 months as a monthly option payment on top of rent. Either way, the lease is 36 months and first month's rent is due at signing along with the option fee portion. The fee is non-refundable if you decide not to buy.
What do I need to bring at signing?
The option fee (all of it, or the smaller amount shown for that home) plus your first month's rent. If you move in mid-month, the first month is prorated. Each listing shows the exact 'due at signing' number for both options.
Does part of my rent go toward the purchase?
No. Rent is rent. We don't mark up the rent or the price to fund a 'credit' and hand your own money back. The option fee is what counts toward your total cost, and it's the only thing you'd lose if you don't buy.
Can my rent go up during the 36 months?
No. Your rent and your purchase price are both fixed for the full term. No annual increase, no renewal negotiation.
What if home prices drop?
You can walk away. The option is a right, not a promise. If the market falls below your locked price, you simply don't exercise it, give notice, and move out at the end of the month like any tenant. You lose the option fee and nothing else.
What if home prices rise?
Your price doesn't. Whatever the market does over 36 months, your number is the number on your option agreement.
How do I actually buy the house?
Any time during the term, once you've lined up financing (a conventional, FHA, VA, ITIN or portfolio loan, or cash), you exercise the option and close with a title company. Upswing handles the paperwork on our side and coordinates with your lender.
How do I apply, and what does it cost?
Applying is free and takes about three minutes: your name and phone, the home you like, what you can put toward the option fee at signing, and the monthly payment you're comfortable with. No documents to upload and no application fee. Doris calls or texts you back, usually the same business day, with the exact numbers on the home.
Do I need perfect credit? What about an ITIN?
You'll need to qualify for the lease like any tenant, and to buy at the end you'll need a mortgage or cash. We don't promise financing, and we'll never tell you a lease guarantees you a loan. What the 36 months give you is time to build the record a lender wants to see, while living in the house at a fixed price. ITIN holders are welcome to apply; several Tulsa lenders offer ITIN mortgages, and a clean payment history with us is exactly what they ask for.
Who owns the house while I'm renting?
The seller does. Sometimes that's us, sometimes another owner who listed with Upswing. Either way you sign the same Upswing lease and the same option agreement, and Upswing collects rent, tracks your option and handles the transaction when you buy.
Who handles repairs during the lease?
You do, for routine maintenance and repairs (HVAC filters, appliances, plumbing, the yard) the way an owner would, because the plan is that you'll be the owner. The lease spells it out. The owner keeps the non-waivable obligations Oklahoma law puts on landlords, and you should report anything that affects the structure or habitability right away.
What if I don't like any of the homes on the marketplace?
We can connect you with a preferred agent. If you're approved for the program, Upswing can buy a home off the MLS that you and your agent pick, and lease it to you with the same option agreement. Two conditions: the option fee is paid in full at signing on any-home purchases, and rent is quoted case by case for that specific house.
Can I paint, or make the house mine?
Cosmetic changes are usually fine with written permission. That's the point of living in it first. Structural changes need the owner's written consent under the lease.
What happens if the owner sells the house while I'm in it?
Your lease and your option run with the property for their full term. A new owner takes the home subject to your signed option agreement.
What if I need more than 36 months?
Every Upswing lease includes an option to extend for two more years. The extension costs an additional $5,000 option fee, which you can pay up front or monthly over the 24 months. The one thing that changes at extension is rent: it resets to fair market rent for that home at that time. Your purchase price stays locked at the same number for the extra two years. The extension option fee is non-refundable, just like the first one.
Is this a contract for deed?
No. In a contract for deed the buyer takes on the ownership obligations from day one and can lose everything they've paid if they default. With Upswing you are a tenant with a purchase right; if you don't buy, you're out the option fee, not the house and not years of payments.
Where are the homes?
Today: Tulsa (west, north, east and south) and Catoosa. We're adding rent to own homes in Broken Arrow, Bixby, Jenks, Owasso, Sapulpa, Glenpool, Sand Springs, Claremore, Collinsville and the rest of the metro as owners list them.
Can I list my own house on Upswing?
Yes. Upswing is a marketplace: owners list, we screen the tenant-buyer, everyone signs the same contract, and we manage the property and the closing. Owners pay a flat $299 to post a home (that covers marketing, screening, paperwork and the closing) plus $25 a month while it's managed. Start on the List Your Home page.