It can depend on the contract and seller.
But the way rent to own homes work is you put some money down to get into the house and then you make monthly rent payments for a set period of time in the rent to own contract.
Then after that time you need to come up with the rest of the balance to pay off and own the house.
If you go to buy a rent to own home make sure you look over the contract and you might even want to get a lawyer to help you out in reading and understanding the contract.
You'll likely need to get a loan from a bank to pay off the rest of the balance of the house.
Some home sellers that sell rent to own homes may do it different though in what is known more as a land contract but can sometimes be called a rent to own home.
With a land contract you pay a down payment to the current owner of the home and then make monthly payments and at the end of the contract when you made all the payments the deed transfers to you.
Some land contracts are mistakenly called rent to own so make sure you look at the contract to see exactly what it will mean to pay off the house and own it eventually.
Land contracts and rent to own is a good way to get into your own home but sometimes things can go sour if you don't read over that contract and understand it.