Can i rent a home until i have paid off the mortgage?

You would have to do the paperwork in the end, so do it now. The landlord makes money off the rent, don’t put it in his/her pocket. Buy a house.

You are an absolute, utter fool if you enter into any such arrangement without PROFESSIONAL LEGAL ADVICE.

What’s going to happen if you pay “rent” for five years and the owner decides she doesn’t want to sell the house to you any longer? What happens if your landlord dies and her heirs want the house for themselves? What’s going to happen if the house burns down?

CALL A LAWYER TO WRITE THE CONTRACT FOR YOU.

I’ve never heard of such an arrangement. There is a lease-to-own, where a portion of the rent paid each month is applied to a future down payment to buy the house (when you would have to obtain your own mortgage). Usually, there is a set price that’s agreed upon that you can buy the house within a specified amount of time from beginning of the lease.

It’s called A Rent to Own. You can go to staples and get the contracts and then fill them out. Make copies and have them notarized. Make sure you make any and all changes WRITTEN DOWN ON THE CONTRACT! Otherwise, if something goes wrong you have the legal right to sue or back out.
I did that once but forgot to make a copy and then forgot to get it notarized. the person trashed the house, left me stuck with a big gas bill and I found out bought another house. I tried to sue but the slick bitch used only part of her name and so her identity could not be verified! the house was later foreclosed.

That plan usually does not work. You are agreeing to a price many years before you actually buy it.