What is a lease? It is like renting a car. You don’t own it so you don’t have the depreciation, but you also have to give it back after your term is up. This is good for people who want a new car every few years. The lease payments are also lower than if you buy. If you buy payments could extend over 7 years. You have to have credit to lease a car just like buying and financing. You may need a co-signer if you have no credit.

I have some suggestions to get you into a lease:

You have the option of going to the dealership and haggling for a lease. Another option is to take over someone else's lease. I enjoy this option more since the terms are usually shorter and you may even get an incentive if someone wants or needs it off their credit. I also like not having to go into a dealership.

I use swapalease.com and leasetrader.com. There is also takemypayments.com. I recommend swapalease.com out of the three. I have taken more than four different car leases over the years. You can put in your search criteria such as make, miles, payment etc. You can choose exactly what you want.

Some people even offer incentives, which is cash for taking over their lease. One time I got a $2,000 incentive and after the 19 months were up received another check from Mercedes for $1,500 because the first owner had pre-purchased miles that were refundable. It is easiest to take over a lease in your same state you live in. The deal I just told you was an out of state car for me, so I had to pick it up and transport it back to my state. Sometimes you have to pay tax in your state too. If it says current price of $250 and it is out of state, then you will also need to add your state sales tax. When asking to verify the miles on the car, ask for a current picture with the date and the odometer. The only out-of-pocket fees are the transfer fee and or application fee. This ranges anywhere from free to $600. I like the flexibility of shorter leases. I had one for nine months and all of mine were less than 24 months.

The process is simple if you use these websites. It takes approximately 4-8 weeks to have a lease transfer completed. The sites will walk you through the process. You have to go through a credit check and application first. If approved they start the transfer process. Out of state take longer and are more complex plus you have to pick up the car. It is worth the effort.