Archives for: December 2008
Insurance And Buying Houses Subject To
December 31st, 2008You will need to find a great local insurance agent that understands what you are doing when you are buying houses "subject to" to the existing financing to make sure that property is properly insured.
An Insurance Agent is a key member of your Real Estate Investing Dream Team whether you are buying traditionally or buying "subject to", but since the loan remains in the seller's name, it is important to make sure that your insurance agent writes the correct policy to make sure that you are insured properly.
Remember that insurance premiums can vary widely from company to company for very similar coverage amounts. Be sure to get competitive quotes and to get the quotes BEFORE you buy the property. It is best to know your insurance expenses before you commit to buy a property.
Until my next post,
James
James Orr
Investor/Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado
(970) 225-6989 (Mobile) | (888) 714-4596 (Fax)
jamesorr@kw.com (Email)
"Rent To Own" As A Common Exit To Buying "Subject To"
December 30th, 2008Once you buy a house "subject to" the existing financing, you'd like to be able to sell or occupy the property quickly and with a huge marketing advantage right? Well, being able to offer the property on a "Rent To Own" can give you that marketing advantage and get your property sold or occupied very quickly--especially in our current credit markets.
By offering creative financing options like a "rent to own" to folks with less than perfect credit, but with enough income to afford the property you offer something that only a small percentage of sellers are offering in your market.
Provided you can collect a large deposit toward the purchase and make sure that the
James Orr
Investor/Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado
(970) 225-6989 (Mobile) | (888) 714-4596 (Fax)
jamesorr@kw.com (Email)
A Strategy For Making Subject To Offers
December 29th, 2008In my last few articles, I discussed how buying a house subject to the existing financing is similar yet different from leasing a house with an option to buy. I talked about how one is not necessarily better than another, but that each has its advantages and disadvantages depending on what you are trying to accomplish.
Now, I will share with you a strategy for making an offer to buy a house subject to the existing financing where the similarities between "subject to" and "lease options" are used to make a stronger, more understandable offer to a seller.
First, you might suggest in a trail close something like this:
James Orr
Investor/Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado
(970) 225-6989 (Mobile) | (888) 714-4596 (Fax)
jamesorr@kw.com (Email)
What's Better: Lease Options Or Subject To
December 26th, 2008The title of this article: "What's Better: Lease Options Or Subject To" is misleading because each one has its pros and cons. Neither using a lease with an option to buy or getting ownership and paying on an existing mortgage is always better or worse than the other. In fact, there are times when you'd be better off using one and times when it is to your advantage to use another.
In two previous articles, I discuss how "subject to" is similar to "lease options" and how they differ. In this article I will share an example of when it might be better to use one over another. Of course, there are other examples that you might discover based on your unique transaction, real estate market or personal situation, but here are two examples.
Here's the first example: if you are uncertain about whether a real estate market is going up or down do you want to commit to owning a property? In times when the market has a strong chance of going down, it might be a an advantage to
James Orr
Investor/Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado
(970) 225-6989 (Mobile) | (888) 714-4596 (Fax)
jamesorr@kw.com (Email)
How Lease Options and "Subject To" Differ
December 25th, 2008In my last article, I shared with you how lease options and buying a property "subject to" were similar. While the mechanics of how they are implemented is very different, both offer you the ability to control a property--without getting a new loan--and, if you market and structure it correctly, can allow you to profit both on an up front deposit, on-going monthly cash flow and a large back end pay day when you sell the property.
So, what is different between using a lease with an option to buy and buying a property "subject to" the existing financing?
First, when buying a house "subject to" you are actually getting the deed to the house which will make you the owner of the house. This may give you
James Orr
Investor/Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado
(970) 225-6989 (Mobile) | (888) 714-4596 (Fax)
jamesorr@kw.com (Email)
How Lease Options and "Subject To" Are Similar
December 24th, 2008For real estate investors that want to find deals that do not require the go through the hassle of applying and paying for a new loan each time they acquire control and responsibility for a new property, lease options and buying "subject to" the existing financing seem like great alternatives.
In this article, I'd like to share with you how lease options and "subject to" are similar and then in my next article, I will share with you some of the key differences.
First, with lease options and buying a house "subject to" the loan stays in the seller's name. That means the loans on the property remains on their credit report.
Second, with lease options and buying a house "subject to" you usually make a monthly payment that covers the underlying loan for the seller. While this is not ALWAYS true, it is usually true that the seller wants, and often is able to get you to make, payments that pay for his entire principal, interest, taxes and insurance payment.
Third, with lease options and buying a house "subject to" you usually put very little, if any, money down. It is unusual
James Orr
Investor/Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado
(970) 225-6989 (Mobile) | (888) 714-4596 (Fax)
jamesorr@kw.com (Email)
Advantages For Investors Buying Properties "Subject To"
December 23rd, 2008In my previous two articles in this series on what "subject to" is and what a typical "subject to" deal looks like, you learned quite a bit about the big picture of how agreeing to make payments on an existing loan when buying a house actually works.
In this article, I will share with you what I believe some of the benefits are for buying properties "subject to" the existing financing.
First, and this is a big one for investors in our current credit markets, you do not need to go out and get a new loan. There are large numbers of investors that have great credit and can afford payments on a property, but due to our current credit market are being denied new loans. It sure doesn't help that many lenders have limited investors to having a total of 4 loans in their name before cutting them off from getting new loans. So, being able to start making payments on an existing loan make buying the properties much easier and allows you to buy more than 4 properties that many lenders limit investors to under the new lending guidelines.
Second, there are no loan fees. While there are certainly
James Orr
Investor/Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado
(970) 225-6989 (Mobile) | (888) 714-4596 (Fax)
jamesorr@kw.com (Email)
How Does A "Subject To" Deal Work
December 22nd, 2008In my last article, I discussed how I was recently reviewing the "Millionaire Real Estate Investor" by Gary Keller of Keller Williams Realty fame and found a particularly interesting page where he was discussing how an investor bought a house by just agreeing to make payments on the existing financing. In the creative real estate investing circles, we refer to this as buying a house "subject to" the existing financing.
While there is almost infinite variation deal to deal, how does a typical "subject to" deal actually work?
First, you find a motivated seller. Not all sellers are in a situation where you making payments on their existing loan is an attractive option to them. However, as the record number of foreclosures tell us, there are lots of folks where having someone making payments on their loan is a good option since it would prevent a foreclosure.
Next, you
James Orr
Investor/Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado
(970) 225-6989 (Mobile) | (888) 714-4596 (Fax)
jamesorr@kw.com (Email)
