Can you paint?  How about carpet?  Many people come to us with these skills or have family and friends who can shine up a property.  You could get into our one year lease option program with a much smaller option deposit, monthly payment and selling price if you do these repairs on your own.  We don't offer this with all our homes but occasionally find one that needs cosmetic work. 

Here's an example:

The home needs carpet and paint.  You could do the work yourself and get these reduced terms on the one year program.

Monthly Payment          $897            
Option Deposit             $1000
Selling Price                  $85,000  

If we did the work the terms for a lease option to purchase would be higher.

Monthly Payment         $967
Option Deposit            $2900
Selling Price                 $91,000

Any increase in value is your sweat equity once you get a mortgage.  You can even sell the house at any time during the option period and pocket the increase.  Our previous clients have done it before.