This might belong in GQ, but I thought I’d start here to pick the brains of Dopers.
The short story: I own two houses, a classic tale of the '07 bottom dropping out of the market. The home I’ve had for sale for a year is in a depressed part of the country; we’ve had ten offers and four that went to escrow dropped out because of x, y, and z. If I don’t unload the house by September, I think we’re looking at foreclosure.
My realtor is kind of a waste of skin (and, to be fair, is probably about to go under). The house is 400 miles away and I do have some friends who would be happy to have open houses.
Is it difficult to sell a house on your own? Could I act as the mortgager and take payments every month and have the buyer agree to buy the house outright in two years? People who have made offers are having trouble coming up with a down payment and I’ve lowered the price so much that I can’t offer assistance.
Rent to own? I so want to NOT be a landlord, but . . .
If you have someone that wants to buy the house eventually and is willing to rent it for the short term, I’d imagine you could draw up some sort of agreement where they pay $X in rent each month but if they buy the house within the next Y years, you’ll take $Z off the sale price. However, for this to work:
You’d have to have an agreement drawn up by a lawyer.
You’d likely have to agree on a future sale price now (otherwise the “discount” is fairly meaningless). If you do that, you’ll likely need clauses allowing either of you to get out of the agreement if market prices go too far in either direction, so you’re not forced to buy/sell a house way above/below market value.
You’d have to be a landlord in the meantime, with all that entails.
Personally, I’m not sure it’s worth it. It might be better to just wait for a buyer who can qualify for a loan. I’m sorry to hear you’re in such a sucky position, though.
Being an absentee landlord is a motherfuck. All types of bad shit can happen. If you manage to find an honest and competent rental agency, then you are golden. I’ve got a rental condo in a very desirable area and I’ve just recently found a trustworthy local who rents it out. I’m happy if I can cover my property taxes and HOA fees, let alone any portion of a mortgage payment. Actually, I could rent in out long term and make a profit because I own it outright, but since it’s in Park City, I like to snowboard and go and watch movies once a year.
Unless you get a meaningful up-front payment, offering financing or a “rent-to-own” scheme seems unacceptably risky. Your tenant needs to have a strong incentive to keep the place in good condition and the payments on time.