Seller Financing - Six Safety Tips

Why offer seller financing when you sell? A higher price, a good return on your money, a faster sale and to sell a property that is otherwise difficult to sell. Some good reasons, but how do you do it safely?

1. Get a large downpayment. The most obvious way to be safe, and not always possible.

2. Get other security. If they want it with little down, and you like the return you'll get, make it safe by putting a mortgage on other property the buyer owns, to be released when they've paid down the balance to a certain level.

3. Check their credit. Have them pay for and bring you a credit report. Bad credit may be okay, but type of bad credit is important. Unpaid hospital bills they're disputing are not as relevant as unpaid loans.

4. Trust your instincts. If you are usually right about people, give some weight to your judgement of their character. I'd trust a man who felt morally obliged to pay his debts over a playboy that happens to have decent income at the moment.

5. Consider the whole picture. Suppose a bank will loan 90%, and is okay with you taking back a $5,000 second mortgage, allowing the buyer to get in with what cash he has. If you're getting $6,000 more than you expected by accomodating the buyer's needs, where's the loss? You're okay if he never pays the $5,000, right?

6. Talk to a lawyer. Maybe in your area it takes two years to get a foreclosure on a mortgage through the courts, and only six months to foreclose on a "contract for sale." Knowing these things can help you sell in the safest way.

Offering seller financing makes it easier to sell, and to get a higher price. Just be safe about it. Have a real estate lawyer review your paperwork, and use the tips here.

Steve Gillman has invested real estate for years. To learn more, and to see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.