Tag

contract for deed

From Bad Credit to Good Credit: How Long?

Credit Convalescence I know don’t know that there’s a firm rule of thumb out there — ultimately, individual lenders decide to make a loan or not based on individual circumstances — but there are some conventions as to how long it takes a would-be borrower to rehabilitate their credit after a short sale. The consensus?...
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Sign of the (Housing) Times

Too-Good-to-be-True Real Estate Come-On’s Combine an (over)heated housing market, scarce inventory (at least at the lower price rungs), and a shaky economy in which lots of consumers have still-battered credit, and what do you get? Home-made signs (like the one to the right) on telephone poles promising would-be home Buyers their pick of hundreds of...
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“Umm . . .That-Might-Be-Tough-to-Find” Dept.

Unrealistic Buyers, Exhibit A; or “The Contract for Deed Catch-22” I fielded a Web lead the other day from a very nice gentleman looking for a larger (over 2,000 FSF) town home near the lakes in move-in condition. For under $250k. Where the town home association rules allow an 80 pound dog (he had one)....
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Contract for Deed “Catch-22”

Housing Market’s “Brussel Sprouts” Edina Realty Regional Manager Terry McDonough gave a terrific talk at City Lakes yesterday about the advantages — and potential pitfalls — of using contracts for deed in today’s housing market. In an environment of zero percent interest rates (“ZIRP”) and lots of stealth home equity (something like 2/3 of those...
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“Rent to Own” Stumbling Blocks

No Standard Terms In theory, “rent-to-own” is a tailor-made strategy for today’s housing market, where lots of would-be Buyers have good cash flow but lousy credit, and lots of Sellers are, well, eager to sell. In practice, however, I’ve seen relatively few of these deals. My guess is that the following factors are responsible: –Although it’s...
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Betting on the Wrong . . . uh, Horse

Why Aren’t Contracts for Deed More Popular? With interest rates in the toilet and the stock market having already almost doubled from its 2009 low, you’d think that there’d be more takers for contracts for deed. An alternative to bank-financed mortgages, they allow Buyers with tarnished (or too-brief) credit histories to buy, and Sellers to sell...
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