REI Wealth Monthly Issue 14 | Page 59

CREATIVE REAL ESTATE STRATEGIES FOR SELLING PROPERTIES AT FULL PRICE LEX LEVINRAD In many cases, mortgage brokers with pre-approved buyers have no houses to offer their buyers. Ironically, investors often have no first time buyers. That’s why it’s very important for every real estate investor to network with, and find a good FHA mortgage broker that can help them find pre-approved buyers. Creative strategies can be used to sell your house without using a real estate agent and mortgage broker. If you do not have pre-approved buyers and are worried that the house will not appraise for a high enough value, consider seller financing and rent to own lease options. The advantage of seller financing and lease options, is that when you sell the house, you do not need a mortgage to be approved or an appraisal. You also do not need a pre-approved buyer. What you do need is someone that has more cash than your typical FHA buyer. Potential buyers may have recently lost their home to a foreclosure or short sale. Many of these people do not like the idea of renting, since they were previously homeowners. But, they cannot get approved for a mortgage, because their credit was recently ruined due to a foreclosure or short sale. This is where the opportunity for you as an investor is created. If you put yourself in their shoes, you will see that they are looking for a house they can stay in for a long time and at payments they can afford. They would ultimately like to own the home. If they only have 5% to 10% of the purchase price as a down payment, consider a lease option (rent to own). If they have 10% to 20% of the payment, then you can consider offering them seller financing. If you do offer seller financing, get the largest deposit possible from the buyer. If the buyer defaults on his payments, it could take you a considerable period of time to get your house back, since you would have to sue them and start foreclosure proceedings against them. This is why you need the protection of a large deposit. You need a cash cushion of at least 1 years’ rent to make it worthwhile. If you have a private lender, then your lender will have to be agreeable to you selling the house with seller financing.