The benefit of seller financing
Many home owners dread being involved in a situation where a property
they've listed for sale has been sitting unsold for too long. The basic
reason is usually the same - the asking price is too high for the
market conditions.
In these situations, the seller is forced to lower their price in hopes
of making the property more attractive to buyers. Unfortunately, this
technique doesn't always work to sell the real estate, especially if
the seller is unwilling to "discount" their house by much, or if the
market is weak.
A great solution for the seller is to open up to an entirely different
segment of buyers by offering seller financing. This way, the property
owner can often sell their house for their desired asking price (or
even more), and find a buyer more quickly than with conventional real
estate methods.
Some homeowners are hesitant to offer seller financing services because
of a lack of understanding about how private financing works.
Like other things that seem complicated on the surface, it's simply a
matter of grasping the fundamental issues specific to seller finance.
By following the proper procedures to locate a prospective buyer,
create a note, and resell the note to a note purchaser (if necessary),
a real estate seller that is willing to "think outside of the box" can
sell their home for more money and close the deal faster as well.
Finding a prime buyer for seller financing
The majority of home buyers looking for seller financing look through the "For Sale By Owner" ad listings in the local paper. Even in today's Internet-dominated world, newspaper advertising continues to be an effective means to reach those looking for seller financed deals. A simple sale ad including the line "seller financing available" or "credit issues OK" should help to generate interest from the right potential candidates.
Doing the deal
Once a serious buyer is "on board" to buy, the
seller will work with that party to set the terms of the note. It is
especially important to draw up the contract to favor the note holder
when the property owner will need to immediately resell the note in
order to receive a large lump sum of cash for their future payments.
Larger down payments are better than smaller amounts, and shorter terms
(5-10 years) and higher interest rates (12%-20%) are usually preferred
by buyers. It is the property seller's option to determine what is
acceptable and what terms to which the buyer will agree.
Once the details of the initial payment, payment term, interest rate,
and any necessary clauses are established, the buyer and seller can
create a new seller-financed note. Creating the note can be handled
with standardized boilerplate or the assistance of an attorney,
although some note sellers manage the private sale of their home
without any paid legal counsel at all.
Once the newly-created note has been reassigned to a buyer, the
property seller will have "cashed in" their future monthly payments for
an immediate lump sum payment from the note buyer - an amount similar
to what they would have received from a conventional sale.
Enlisting the assistance of a note finder
In the secondary finance industry, a unique group of
individuals exists who specialize in locating buyers. These cash flow
specialists - often known simply as "finders" - have a unique
understanding of what most buyers are looking for. These finders are
happy to work with property sellers (or their real estate agents).
While note finders can't offer any legal advice or assist with the
creation of a note, they are qualified to give general recommendations
about note buyers' buying criteria. Most importantly, note finders will
be able to help locate a buyer for a newly-created cash flow.
Locating the right note buyer
The best method for finding the right note buyer is by contacting DJ Note Investing. We work with up to thirty five different buyers which gives us the ability to get top dollar for your monthly income payments.
Creating an attractive note for resale
Note payers and note buyers are usually looking for
very different things. Most payers would love a "no money down"
purchase over 30 years at a low interest rate, but buyers wouldn't want
anything to do with this sort of note because it is a bad deal for them.
An initial down payment of at least 10% of the sale price, a fully
amortized term between 60 and 120 months, and an interest rate of 12 to
20% is typically what a note buyer is seeking. These conditions are
necessary in order to minimize the discount to the note seller. Note
buyers will always reduce the payout amount somewhat in order to
counterbalance the risks - limited equity, a payer with low or no
credit score, possible foreclosure, or having to foot the bill for
legal actions and selling the property via auction.
When property sellers are willing to offer an unconventional, private
financed note to sell their house, the end result is often much better
than the alternative of lowering the price until a "traditional buyer"
finds the deal attractive. Smart sellers who can apply owner-finance
techniques will have a huge advantage in closing difficult deals in
tough markets.