Funds Blog

The Advantages Of Holding A Note On Your Real Estate

Banks are being more strict than ever with whom they lend money to, so if you are a home seller you really need to consider becoming the bank, and loaning our your own equity to a prospective buyer. Why should I do that, you say?

Let us just say, for this example, you have sold a property that you have fifty thousands dollars in equity in. Deciding to just sell it and pocket the big chunk of money may end up hurting you by increasing your tax liability. There are more taxes than the usual income tax and state taxes that can take your real estate profits, such as capital gains tax for one.

It may seem counter intuitive, but loaning the buyer your profits from the sale may be the best way to limit your tax liability and generate some income doing so. Whenever possible, you should try to be the primary lien on the property to limit your own risk in case things go sideways with the homeowner, and they can not pay for their loans in the future.

By loaning on your own property, you have a very proactive opportunity in dealing with the home owners and can cut off any foreclosure by dealing directly with the borrower. Sometimes the homeowner is willing to simply sign the deed back over to you to avoid any further damage to their credit or even a foreclosure on their record. Most people do not want the shame and embarrassment of being foreclosed on, so they will iron things out with you, if for no other reason than to salvage their credit history. From there you can rent the property back to them or you can send them on their way and look for another buyer to sell it to. You can even loan your own money on it again, if you like.

Loaning your money out again will do a lot of positive things, including helping your next buyer improve their credit history, and bring you a nice chunk of change as you go along. The homeowner may even eventually refinance you out of your lien position altogether.