A lease option or rent-to-own home isn’t exactly what it sounds like. You don’t simply rent until the house is paid off. Instead, you usually pay higher rent for a set time. That excess rent then goes toward a down payment when you buy the house at a later date. Rent-to-own might help you buy a house if you don’t have a lot of cash on hand right now or if you need to improve your credit score before applying for a mortgage. However, rent-to-own requires seller cooperation and comes with unique risks.