Chapter 8: Special Bonus! 10 Ways to Buy a Home With Little or No Money Down

		At I-Can-Buy.com we believe that information should be available to anyone who wants and needs it, so we are trying out something new for a limited time. We are offering this valuable information FREE on this website, in a format that is supported by advertising, instead of selling this valuable e-book. We think this is a great idea and we hope you do too. Here is Chapter 8 of our FREE Online ebook. To get a free pdf download of this book, Click Here. To go back to start the book with the Introduction and Chapter 1 Click Here. Buying a Home When You Have Bad Credit: 12 Ways to Purchase a House When You Can't Get a Home Loan. Special Bonus! Chapter 8: 10 Ways to Buy a Home With Little or No Money Down 1. Rent-to-Own or Lease-Option Since I have already discussed this option in detail in Chapter 5, I won’t repeat myself. But this is really is one of the best ways to get into a home of your own when you can’t get a bank loan. Remember that you may still have to get a loan down the line. If you have a lease-option for 5 years, at the end of that time, you will need to purchase the house, so you can use the time to fix your credit, or use one of the other options that are discussed in this book to purchase the house at that time. You can always try to negotiate another 5-year lease-option if you need more time. 2. Sweat Equity Sweat Equity is a way to get a home by trading work for equity in the house. This could be used for a down payment or for purchase later. This is a great technique if you are handy with tools, yard-work, and paint. Look for fixer-uppers in neighborhoods you are interested in. Many times these homes will have a hard time selling and the owner is ready for just about any offer. You will find these houses ranging from just needing a little “cosmetic” work like landscaping or painting, to totally trashed out houses in need of some serious renovation. If you are into repairs, this is a great way to get a home for a good deal. If you are not skilled at repairs and renovation, be careful about fixer-upper homes. They could end up costing you quite a large amount of money to pay others to fix. I also recommend getting a home inspection so that you know what exactly you are in for before you begin. 3. Seller Carry-Back As we mentioned in chapter 4, look for a home with an assumable loan. Instead of buying out the owner's equity, ask the seller to carry back a second mortgage for the rest of the money owed. If you can get the seller to carry all of the rest, you can get the home for no money down. 4. Offer an Object for the Down Payment Offer something other than cash (land, a car, a boat, or valuable collectibles) to the seller instead of a cash down payment. This is why it is important to listen to sellers. Find out what they want and need. Maybe you have (or can get) just what they need. For instance maybe they wanted to use the down-payment to buy an RV and it turns out that you just happen to have one you don’t need. Offer that vehicle as a down-payment, and it saves you from coming up with the cash. 5. Offer Services for the Down Payment Offer your services or expertise to the seller in lieu of a down payment. Some examples include $10,000 worth of auto services if you're a mechanic, dental work if you're a dentist, desktop publishing services if you're a designer, artwork if you're an artist or legal work if you're an attorney. 6. Foreclosures Look for foreclosure properties that require little or no down payment. Some lenders and government agencies will let you buy a foreclosure with no down payment if your credit is good and they're anxious to have the home occupied, or if you have skills (carpentry, landscaping or even painting) that you can use to increase the home's value. Distressed properties - assume with little or no down to save foreclosure. 7. VA or Other No Money Down Loans Look for conventional loan programs such as VA or FHA that require little or nothing down. VA loans have helps countless veterans get into their homes. There are often programs available to first time buyers or people who are distressed (such as with Hurricane Katrina) that will help people get into a home with little money down. You usually will have to qualify for the loan with the bank, though. 8. Find an Investment Partner for Equity Sharing Look for an investment partner who'll put up some or all of the cash in an equity-sharing partnership. You make the monthly payments and the two of you split the eventual resale profits. 9. Wrap-Around Financing I told you about wrap-around financing in Chapter 4. That is where you assume a seller’s VA Loan by doing a new Contract for Deed. Since this contract is flexible and does not have to follow the old loan, you can ask the seller to carry not only the loan amount, but the rest of the purchase price of the house, letting you get in with little or no money down. 10. Government and Community Down-payment Programs There are many community and non-profit organization programs out there to help people get into homes of their own. Many of these do no require any money down. See more information about these programs in Chapter 6. There are some organizations and programs that will pay for some or all of the down payment for you. Generally these are for lower to moderate-income individuals, but these days that includes a lot of people. You also usually have to be able to qualify for an FHA loan (which is somewhat easier than a conventional bank loan.) If you have been unable to get into a home because you don’t have enough money for a down payment, then maybe one of these programs will be for you. Below is a list of organizations that have down payment assistant programs: • AmeriDream Inc. http://www.ameridream.org • National Home Foundation http://www.nationalhomefoundation.org • GiftAmerica Program (GAP) http://www.giftamerica.org • The Nehemiah Program http://www.nehemiahprogram.org • New Song Down Payment Assistant Program http://www.buyers-assistance.com • Equity Grants http://www.equitygrants.com • Realty America http://www.realtyamerica.org • Homes For All Program http://www.ezdownpayment.com Also check in your local area, because many communities have similar programs of their own. This has been an excerpt of the book by Alex Dey called Buying a Home When You Have Bad Credit. Buying a Home When You Have Bad Credit is written by Alexis Dey, Copyright © 2005-2006 Mohave Publishing. All rights reserved. This book is protected by international copyright law. 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