Ok, my honey and I have found a home that we love. Unfortunately, because we own our own companies and have not been in business for 2 years (1y5m) we are unable to obtain a normal FHA loan. Now the home that we are looking at is on the market for 156,000.00 and has been on there for about a year in foreclosed status. Would the bank be willing to lease/rent to own until the first of the year with the contingencies that we will purchase the house in 8 months? I spoke to our mortgage broker and she said that she would be willing to give us a written letter were we stand and what is holding us back. But we do not want us leasing the property to take advantage of us with 20-30% down or any other unfair things. I pulled up public records and they owe about 2100.00 for bad taxes. We would take care of that as our down payment or something, I dont know im just throwing ideas out at you all. But we love the home and its been sitting for months collecting dust and needs TLC. We want the home, and would think that it would be a win win situation for the bank and us??? any ideas....ways to get around loop holes? ANYTHING????
We would just stay were we are at, but we live in deed restriction and we can not keep our equipment here. And its costing us a lot keeping it somewhere else, not to mention the MAJOR inconvenience.

Sorry, banks aren't interested in becoming Property Managers and Landlords.

It would be nice if they would just respond to good cash offers!

They are on another planet!

uh, why did you wait until AFTER the sub-prime collapse?

Artiste is correct. Lenders won't even consider a lease/purchase on REO properties.

No it is not an option, banks are not interested in leasing properties.

They just don't do it. But, hey why not try the worst thing they can do is not reply.

if your interested in searching for rent to own properties, here is a good site:

www.irenttoown.com

Are there any hard money lending experts on board? I don't know much of anything about how difficult to obtain. I just really learned about them.

But from what I have read IF you have excellent credit, and IF you get the house for an absolute steal (much lower than fair market value or after repaired value "FMV" and "ARV"), then you sometimes can get a loan at a very high interest rate, and then refinance later. But you have to be confident, by talking to your lender, or other lenders, that you would be able to meet underwriting guidelines to refinance. You can also get these loans for fair market value if you put down a LARGE downpayment (like 25 or 30%). HUGE disclaimer: I'm just relaying what I have read; I have never even inquired about a HML, much less taken one out. And SOME of these hard money lenders are SCAM ARTISTS, so you have to make sure that any deposit is put into escrow, and get references that make you feel comfortable, plus I wouldn't rely on any "after the closing" money that you are supposed to receive. Really anyone inexperienced probably should avoid hard money lenders, at least that's my opinion. You can learn/read more about HMLs at reiclub.com or join a local real estate investment group and get LOCAL REFERENES. My understanding is that some HMLs will lend for little money down IF the deal is an absolute STEAL, which is unlikely with most foreclosures (banks want fair market value in my recent experience), but sometimes they will deal on a particular property if it has been sitting for a LONG time.

Also, Countrywide still apparently has "no-doc" loans "fast and easy loan" if you put down 15% and have excellent credit. Using these loans, you state your income and state your assets.

Some local banks also sometimes have financing programs that might help.

But your options are limited with the sub-prime mess. Finding creative loan options is almost impossible with the new regulations. No-doc loans are slated for elimination (from what I have read) by the end of the year.

I am not a mortgage broker, and have only read this most of this stuff online and in forums like this one, so take it for what it's worth. I do have first hand knowledge that Countrywide is still offering no doc loans to certain customers (excellent credit and at least 15% down).

Even savvy investors are talking about concerns about not being able to get mortgages . . . *but* it never hurts to ask around. I would call a couple of different mortgage brokers to ask about options. But only allow them to pull credit if it looks promising b/c pulling your credit multiple times will hurt your score.

The bank will never, ever consider the landlord option. Your only shot is to find some creative financing. Do you have any family who could get a loan and then rent to you?

Good luck.

Tina

In our market (Winnipeg, MB) for private money mortgages these are normally 1% or 2% more expensive than a standard bank mortgage, but have s set-up fee of between 10% - 15% of the amount borrowed. They normally require at least a 25% deposit.