...terrible credit and want to buy a house. Is rent to own a good idea? I'm a first time buyer, I make a decent wage and I'm in the process of paying off all past due bills. How tough is it to buy a house?

google "rent to own"one result ishttp://doiop.com/rent2own

rent to own is not a bad idea, although there are SOME bad people involved in the business. My advice: if you are looking at a "rent to own" house, look at some other houses for sale in the neighborhood that are not "rent to own", and look at some other house that are for rent. Rule of thumb: If the price of the rent to own house is not too much more than the price of similar houses that are not rent to own; and if the rent on the rent to own house is not too much more than the rent on a similar house, then its a good deal. But if the "rent" is twice the going rent in the neighborhood, you're better off renting for a few years until you get your credit back up.