Buying an Owner Financed Home
If you want to purchase your own home but do not have the deposit or meet other criteria to obtain a mortgage from a traditional lender, owner financed home may be a solution to your dilemma. Rather than continuing to pay rent to a landlord who benefits from property ownership, you can build wealth yourself. Every home payment you make brings you one step closer to owning your own home outright.
The way owner finance homes work is that instead of borrowing from a bank or mortgage finance company, the seller of the home can actually finance all or part of the purchase price. While partial financing is more common - if you lack funds for a deposit, for example - 100% financing may be possible depending on the terms the seller is willing to offer.
If you are seeking your home through real estate advertisements, you may not have seen owner financed home opportunities advertised. This doesn’t mean that they are not there. If an owner has had a property on the market for some time and does not want to reduce the price in order to make a sale, he or she may be willing to consider owner financing. Obviously, they would have to have the financial capacity to do this but you won’t know if you don’t ask.
There are also websites, which specialize in marketing owner finance homes. You may not have to meet normal lending criteria but you will have to be able to prove your capacity to pay the required monthly payment. These payments are often higher than if you took out a traditional mortgage, however if you are able to make them they can be a means to an end. Once you build a history of payments and create equity in your home, you may be able to refinance with a bank or other traditional lender at a lower interest rate.
One of the most important things to do if you are considering buying an owner finance home is to hire an attorney to go over the contract and any other pertinent paperwork. You need to clearly understand what you are agreeing to, and you will want to make sure there aren’t any stiff pre-payment penalties that would prevent you from refinancing down the road. Understanding your rights and obligations is very important before signing a contract.
Owner financed homes are a popular way for owners to sell their properties at prices they want and do so quickly. However, buyers need to beware that sellers are not doing them a favor. Buyers need to be very careful before agreeing to purchase using seller finance. You should obtain a building inspection report and have the property professionally surveyed.
In some cases, overeager buyers are quick to jump the gun and enter into an owner finance contract without really thinking it through. Make sure you’re not buying someone else’s problem home or being taken advantage of with a predatory lending contract. Doing your due diligence is important - resist the temptation to jump in with both feet without good research and planning.
Owner financed homes can provide a way to home ownership when obtaining traditional financing is not possible. If you go into an owner financed home with a long range plan, you can use owner financing to get into a home, and then obtain a traditional mortgage later on with better terms when your circumstances allow.
