It’s estimated that 50% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, but it seems like there’s always something important to buy.

It might be furniture, it might be payments on a house, it might be major appliances or it might be something else. But there’s always that requires your attention and your money, whether you’re talking about jewelry financing, furniture financing or HVAC financing.

When it comes to buying property, flexible lease purchase programs can be very beneficial. In this scenario, a buyer pays a seller some option money for the right to purchase property at a later date. Usually with flexible lease purchase options, the seller and the buyer agree on a purchase price as well.

If you’re talking with a seller about a lease purchase agreement, a common duration for one is between one and three years. To pay for flexible lease purchase programs, a buyer will typically go to a bank to secure financing and then pay the seller in full at the end of whatever the term is. It’s also typical that option money doesn’t apply toward a down payment, but some of your average monthly lease payment goes toward the purchase price of the property. Usually, the monthly lease payment is higher than market value is higher for his specific reason.

With flexible lease purchase agreements, nobody else can’t buy the property unless you (as the buyer) default. That means option money is nonrefundable and a buyer can’t assign a lease-purchase agreement without the approval of a seller.

With flexible lease purchase programs, you (the buyer) are responsible for maintaining the property and paying all of the general upkeep expenses for it during the term of the lease; things like insurance and taxes. At the end of it all, you’re contractually obligated to buy the property. After all, that’s the whole point is to eventually own the property you’re leasing.

So if you’re looking to set up flexible lease purchase options as a buyer, what do you do? For starters, you’ll want to hire a real estate lawyer to make up documents for the deal and to explain the rights you’ve got as a buyer and a seller if you decide instead to go that route.

One of the things that can happen with agreements like this is there might be underlying loans already associated with the property. Beware of alienation clauses in loans. These give the seller the right to accelerate a loan once you enter into an agreement.

If you’re a seller, consider getting things like a home-warranty plan, pest inspections and a roof certification to cover your bases. You’ll also want to make sure to do your due diligence like a regular home sale, so addition to a home inspection, you’ll want to examine the title policy on the property and get an appraisal on it as well.

There are plenty of finance options available for buying and owning property. But flexible lease purchase programs make it easy for buyers to eventually own homes and they offer sellers a chance to lease and sell property with reasonable terms.