Question on Renter's equity

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ujjvala_jana

New member
Hi,

I'm new in this board and not sure if this thread belongs here. But considering that I needed information on the builders as well and also the fact that the renters board is reasonably less active, I thought I'd post in here.

Has anyone used the renters equity while buying a home? Our current lease is expiring the end of next month. We kind of found a bigger, cheaper and a more closer to work apartments in Foothill Ranch at Sonterra, just that our decision to move out of Serrano in Irvine is still making us think. We are planning on buying a house somewhere in the next 2 years, is it worth the move to lose the renters Equity here? and o Seriously, Equity Apartments give renters Equity from 15-20%. And IAC is still at 5 - 10%. And there are so many clauses on the programs, we've been here for more than 3 years but not sure how much we'll make. Again, it's the builders IP over KB.


we are just a wee bit confused. Do we still look into other communities that are cheaper in IAC or should simply go ahead with our move to the Equity Apartments. Would love to hear your opinions. Please feel free to comment.
 
Hi,

We used our (Mirasol) to purchase a home with IP. AIC credit only work with IP homes and stop on the day you signed the contract. I don't remember all the term but something like 3% for the first 2 years and 5% from the 3rd and 4th year lease. Hope that help.
 
Equity started in July of 2011 so any living in IAC before that doesn't count.  The minute you sign a sales agreement, they stop the equity.  So if you signed a sales agreement today you'd stop accruing it today.

Is it worth it? I officially signed my sales contract end of Sept 2012 and  I earned $1500...it will only go towards covering closing costs.  They won't let you apply it to upgrades or anything else. It shows up on your escrow sheet as closing cost concession.  It helps, but really it's your call if you feel like you're throwing it all away or not. 

Would $3-4K make a big difference in the grand scheme of things?
 
Great. It's good to know the program has been used. It started only in July 2011 and I was wondering who would have got to use it. Regarding the clauses, here it goes on the online terms and conditions it says, 5% on the first lease and it specifically says, for clarity purposes the resident's first lease is the lease they are on the July 1st 2011. and that gives 5% to the Equity. The second consequent lease gives 7% and the third gives 10%. And it also says the equity is divided equally with the number of residents in the apartment however when remitting if the member decide to divide it differently, the community could consider. Also there is a clause that says the only a single participants equity can be used towards buying a home and this does not matter whether the two individuals have been married and/or buying the house together.. weird!!!

I called up the info center and I got an old lady who confused me even more. She said if both inmates are married there is no issue why they cannot use the equity together but the equity is calculated 5% for the entire period of July 2011 - July 2012 as 5% (so it a 5% on all that you have paid for that period. month to month or multiple lease does not matter) and 7% on the next the consequent year and so forth. She said something of the order that meant anything could be written on the terms and conditions, but she knew the correct procedure. I'm planning to call in again to see if I can get a better professional.
 
And is it worth it?!?.. well I guess if it works then $5000(which is the cap) is definitely a good amount for us. But it hardly gives us other options other than IP(and who know it says select IP houses as well). My husband is those "I want those huge yards" kinda guy. And I like custom houses. but we do want latest tech like the green tech (if that is going to save electricity)..
 
The IAC rental center is in the Ralph's plaza on Harvard and Main.  I'd go there and ask...see if you can someone knowledgeable.  Took me a few tries to get someone who knew something.  I'd also ask how they track multiple IAC communities versus staying at one for the equity.  Since each apartment operate as different entities could cause confusion with them.
 
I would say the equity program does help. We got around $2200 from July 2011 - Dec 2012 (when we signed the contract). In your case, if you are looking to sign the contract in the next 1 year or so, then it would be around $4K or so and I think that is a sizeable amount. Infact, you would now earn @ 10% if you are in the 3rd lease and that would be $200 if you are paying around $2K/mo rent. If you move to a non IP rental community then you should factor in this differential.
 
That's true. But with Equity Apartments, I would have made up for what I lose even in the first 1.5 years. What with 15 - 20% equity? Again it boils down to whether I want to stay with IP or choose KB/Ryland builders.. hmph tough decision. For all I know if I still stay with IAC, and finally I don't want the house they build then I'll just have to list it immediately and that sounds a little risky. Just wondering if the market will still stay bright in a year or two from now.
 
I used it to buy my IP home.  Save me $1200.  Better than a sharp poke in the eye.  I wouldn't based my rental preference over the equity.  Living at my IAC apartment was pure hell.  Dealing with IP over quality issues is hell too.  I turned my apartment back to IAC in much better shape than when I got it but got charged $200.  They paid someone $95 to dust my apartment and claimed I would be comp on the re-painting.  It's CA law that they cannot charge for this so no favors done.

The consensus is that KB homes is worst than IP in terms of quality.  That could be IP's new sales tagline:  At least we are a tad better than KB homes.
 
snut100 said:
I used it to buy my IP home.  Save me $1200.  Better than a sharp poke in the eye.  I wouldn't based my rental preference over the equity.  Living at my IAC apartment was pure hell.  Dealing with IP over quality issues is hell too.  I turned my apartment back to IAC in much better shape than when I got it but got charged $200.  They paid someone $95 to dust my apartment and claimed I would be comp on the re-painting.  It's CA law that they cannot charge for this so no favors done.

The consensus is that KB homes is worst than IP in terms of quality.  That could be IP's new sales tagline:  At least we are a tad better than KB homes.
Click to expand...

Where did you live at?  I have lived at 4 IAC apartments and all have been pretty good.
 
Another benefit for an IAC renter is that you don't have to pay the lease cancellation fee, which is $3k for me. So between that in the few thousand in renters equity, it's a sizable difference.
 
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