lease option?

you can do a lease option, but the current mortgage would have to be paid to date; if you find a renter/lesee who can put a down payment large enough to pay the back payments and your fee; and the rent should cover the mortgage and then some - for your monhly fee; then it would be doable.

If the couple owes more than what you can get from a buyer, then the next alternative may be a short sale, which can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months...

Wishing you success,
Valerie

Thanks Valerie for your input. I am still working on that 1st deal so let me see if I have this straight.

From talking with them I really don't think they are behind on any payments at which point I could now sign a lease/option, find a tenant to cover the cost of the mortgage payment with hopefully some positive cash flow and hang on to it 'til the market turns around. Then sell it for a profit.

I really think they owe more than I could get a buyer to take it, so hanging on to it would be my only option, other than a short sale which I am not interested in.

Does that all sound about right?

Thanks again,
James

I would not be lease optioning a house that's upside down in my opinion. How far upside down are they?

If your intent was to stay in the deal and structure a SLO, how is your buyer going to cash you out if the house doesn't appraise for the option price you set which would have to be enough to pay off your sellers loan?

Good Luck

Joe

Hello Do a subject to: deal and rent the house out if the numbers are there and it will cash flow I say go for it. Whats owe on the house, whats the monthly pmt, whats the current FMV of the house? Just because a house is upside down, dosn't mean you can't make money, run the numbers and see where its at, always look for a reason to put a deal together, til it wont work. then walk away, dont mis-judge deals til you work all the angles.

I say MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ONE!! Unless you're interested in getting their approval to negotiate a short sale with the bank which can be a long drawn out process. There are alot of houses out there in this same situation, but the good news is there's also a ton of people who want to get rid of their house and THEY HAVE EQUITY. Go for the ones with equity.

Something you might consider doing is finding a short sale specialist in your area who seeks out short sales. If they can somehow make a deal out of it they would probably give you a cut.

Wish the sellers the best and Move On!!

Keep on Lookin

Just my opinon

Oh - and doing a Lease option on this property would not be a good idea for the reason Joe explains above in his comment...Just an FYI

Good luck : )

thanks alot for your feedback, it is much appreciated.

James