Monday, January 15, 2007

Seller financing becoming more popular

Seller financing has become more of a topic in potential real estate transactions recently.

Property owners appear more willing to negotiate terms that help close a deal with a buyer who may not be able to meet the requirements of a regular mortgage lender, says Walter Molony, a spokesman for NAR. High lending rates in the teens made seller financing -- in which the seller finances part or all of a home sale -- popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

But high residential prices threaten to keep many prospective buyers out of today's market. Some real estate and lending officials express concern about the home financing strategy if the seller is not financially stable.

A homeowner who has other assets stands a better chance of not being "wiped out if the buyer is delinquent," says Raymond Bershtein, a partner with the New Haven, Conn., law firm of Bershtein, Volpe & McKeon.

Source: New London Day (Conn.), Bob Tedeschi

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