I am interested if anyone has financed any residential real estate, and if so would you recommend it? Someone I know has a balloon payment due on their financing owned by an individual, and I am considering financing the property. There is plenty of equity in the property above the amount that needs to be financed. With current rates around 7% I can get well above other options. Any input is welcome, especially from anyone that has experience in this area. Thanks.
I was a realtor for about 15 years... I've done about 20 (bought and sold deeds of trusts) over the years... My wife and I stopped them as we get older... It is better if you're in a deed of trust state rather than an mortgage state. A deed of trust is easier to foreclose upon... The laws have changed over the years, making the transaction harder...More danger for the person making the loan. Be sure it a first deed of trust...You DO NOT want a second. Make sure you go though a title company and there are no liens against the property...(example mechanics liens). My last loan was on a small commercial piece of property here in CA...When the balloon came we wanted are money. We did not want to refinance. There are so many complications today that the danger is great... I'll grab AI and see some of the major issues... Default Bankruptcy Death – Probate & Non-Probate Equity Erosion Flattening or Declining Real Estate Market Litigation Fraud Slow Permitting Process / Supply Chain Delays Divorces or Business Partnership Splits Natural Disasters My last note, the guy wasn't paying his insurance...I had a "also insured"...Look it up. It became a headache to pay it then collect from the borrower!! Just a lot of little things...Great in the 1980's and 90's not today...
Get your I's and T's dotted. Residential real estate has different eviction rules and so contracts are trickier. For example, if they don't pay, you can't foreclose easily while they are stripping all the copper out of the walls. Or they don't get insurance and the property has a fire. Or they are able to get another lien that gets perfected over yours because you didn't manage the documents right.
I did a few of these back in the day as well. When you are considering investments, always remember that having the general public involved in some form is always going to be problematic at some point.
20 years ago I knew a guy that would buy houses and sell them via rent-to-own. They were cheap houses in low income neighborhoods and his renters were the type who couldn’t get credit from a bank. The renters were more motivated to not miss payments because they felt they were gaining equity, and they were if they followed through to the end. But most of them ended up moving out when they couldn’t make rent. All the “equity” was still with the owner and he would start the process again. I also know people who will buy farmland and rent it out. Lots of times a farmer will approach someone with money and ask them to buy a farm so they can rent it. The money man doesn’t even have to go look for a farm, he just waits for a farmer to come to him. I wouldn’t finance a home for anyone but I would consider the rent-to-own plan.