In a lease-purchase arrangement, the buyer and seller enter into a contractual relationship where the buyer will lease the seller's home for a predetermined amount of time, at the end of which, they will close on the house.

In some lease-purchase arrangements, the potential buyers are under no obligation to close on the house if they choose not to. In others, the buyers put down a deposit that, if they don't close within the stated amount of time for any reason, they will forfeit to the sellers. Our arrangement is the latter situation.

We obviously weren't thrilled we couldn't close immediately, but the buyers offered us our full asking price and put down a good amount of earnest money as a deposit. And we have someone in our house right now covering our mortgage costs rather than having to shoulder the burden of paying for rent in a new town and carrying the note on the old house like a financial albatross around our necks.

Why would someone need a lease-purchase?

Buyers may find lease-purchase options attractive for a few reasons. They may love the house and want to buy it, but need to save more money for the down payment. They may not be able to get a loan until they sell a previous home. They may have iffy credit or shaky financials they hope to get in ship shape before the closing date. Or they may have qualified for a loan at one time, but not under the stricter requirements in today's market.

For sellers, it's somewhat more complicated. "It's important to ascertain what the buyer's reasons are for needing a lease-purchase, and that those things can be solved during the period of the lease," says Bill Golden, a Realtor with Re/Max Metro Atlanta Cityside. Even if your buyer has some financial issues they want to get in order before closing, it's still important to make sure they're qualified to buy your house. Getting a letter from a reputable lender stating that your buyers are financially able to buy is a must, Golden says.

My Realtor warned us that a great number of lease-purchase agreements don't end up closing. But then again, many do. For Chicago-area resident Ljiljana Losich who acutely wants to own her home, the lease-purchase option was her only route during this time of trepidation for banks.

Losich says she is satisfied and glad to have had the lease-purchase option, but that she won't be truly happy until the home is hers. "I cannot wait to see my husband's and my name on that mortgage loan and start life on the right track," she says, adding that the waiting is weighing on her emotionally, but that she accepts that they need to wait out the financial storm currently raging in the mortgage markets.

NEXT: The pros and cons of lease-purchase agreements

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