No.  I don't think that will ever be a thing out here and it's just not something I've ever seen in 30+ years.

Highly doubtful with how brisk our market is currently.   I did have gal talk to me about it and I asked her where she heard about it.  She said an agent was advertising regarding 'rent to own'.  So I suggested she contact that agent directly.  Personally I do not want to be part of those contracts unless an attorney writes the contract.  I have heard horror stories over the years on how the seller uses certain verbiage whereas the buyer forfeits their payments thus far etc upon certain situations. It can be fraught with legal liability.

Recently I have been getting calls for rent to own, however, that does not seem to be real popular here.  Far and few between.

Well, I say from a buyers perspective it's a rip off. Of course, we all know Yahoo Finance articles as being the cutting edge ... 🤪

It is not new. It has been around for as long as I have been in the business (19 years and counting) and likely even before. I had a client that wanted to go that route ... thankfully they listen to me and they were able to buy a home with my help. 

Rent To Own favors the seller. 

Qualified buyers buy when they are ready to buy. They do not enter an agreement wherein the will pay to purchase at a future price and pay more monthly for that privilege.

Rent To Own has been around for many years. I do not think it will ever be a large part of the market.

Very rarely see it Gary Frimann, CRS, GRI, SRES 

These programs are everywhere if you are willing to search for them. In was a huge scam in the housing crisis so I do not favor it under any circumstances. some got rich, but few went to jail.

Not likely, this idea crops up from time to time, attractive to both sellers and buyers.  Unfortunately it does not last as buyers who do not qualify for a loan generally do not qualify as renters either.

I don't think it will be a thing again while the markets are hot. When the market cools down and it becomes a buyers market... maybe.

It's been here for 35 years (and then some) and never, ever utilized. I did in fact rent to own in 1989 - it's how I bought my first house.

Rent to own is not even in play and if you can find someone that will accommodate, consider yourself a lotto winner! Interesting to note: 1/3 of America is retiring and wealth is shifting. Statistics tell you that that seller is out there. Trying to find them is not a waste of time. You may get lucky

I can not say that I heard of them yet.

I am seeing on-line ads for rent-to-own but based on today's market condition I am confident these are predators/scams attempting to trap the naive.
When the small investor gets back into the game, I expect to see more, However the small investor is simply not competitive against the generous institutional and ibuyers.

Those are simply renters . . . and I do not work with them.

Nope.

Rent to own and lease option are something I've only heard of from those hoping to rent the property.  Only the buyer benefits as they can back out if prices go down and buy if prices go up.

I doubt it. I can't see it being a viable option in this market, and perhaps for some time. There are plenty of risks. 

Interesting. From my experience, rent-to-own usually benefits the seller much more than it does the buyer. Buyers lose out if they're never able to buy the property. In this situation, it looks like the seller is holding the buyer hostage and trying to make more money on the property. It might close but will it hurt the buyer in the long run?

It didn't work way back when, and most likely work now either.  Either rent, or buy.

There hasn't been a lot of demand in that area of sales (renting). I have only done one and it turned into quite a cluster. There was mold found on a basement wall behind a bed, the buyer freaked, called a mold remediation company who said it would cost $5000. All it took was to change the direction of a lawn sprinkler, seal the wall, all of $100.

I have seen a few situations where rent to own was something a developer was offering and from time to time I am asked about them. Overall it's extremely rare in Manhattan.

I foresee a lot of people not going through with their purchases if the market drops and prices are based on today's prices.

Nonsense, no signs of that. Prices are still going up, the inventory is still catastrophically low.