Miss Crosby...

I've been in the real estate business a long time... and there was a time when you could have actually done what you are asking... Not anymore.

Do you have a down payment...? if so you should contact a local mortgage agent and see what it will take for you to qualify for a new loan because that's probably the only way you will be able to get into a place these days.

Your only alternative in my opinion is to find a home that is free and clear with an owner willing to carry the financing... and those deals are few and the ones that are will probably want to see some serious $$$ as a down payment.


I hope this helps...

Make it a great day...

Miss Crosby,

It is possible to "assume" a loan however you still have to qualify for the payments. It is VERY rare however for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is most loans simply are not assumable. However if you were to actually find a homeowner with an assumable loan that wanted to give it up it is not impossible to take it over, but you would still have to qualify for the loan.

Sincerely,
Greg

Recommend lease a home till you can qualify to purchase . Sooner or later you would need to qualify purchase the home to receive annual tax benefits

Lynn911 Dallas Realtor & Consultant, Credit Repair Advisor
The Michael Group - Dallas Business Journal Top Ranked Realtors
972-699-9111
http://www.lynn911.com

The problem with your question is you are asking a group that makes money by selling you a home, there are so many people making deals just like what you are asking. people are losing their homes through Short sale which allows them to collect payments until the deal closes. Although they get a ding on their Credit they have Large Down payments for what you are asking for.
Don't let someone talk you out of what you know is true, last month 181,340 home were listed as short sales but ask yourself this how many sold. Don't ask a Realtor for a Deal that you can do without one because that is what you are asking for....
Think about it....Try Craigslist I would like to by your home if you will consider Owner Financing or Lease w/ Option to purchase, you can close at a Title Company and use a Wrap Mortgage (7 to 20 yrs) or a Long term Lease w/ Option to Purchase at a later date (2 to 5 yrs.)

Well Miss Crosby, there are strategies you can learn by buying a real estate investor course, such as advertised on creonline.com. However, the problem with taking over a home these days is that most of them are so upside down. Why would you take over a home with a $350,000 mortgage, when in today's market it may only be worth $225,000 (or less....or more....just using these figures as an example)?

There are few if any old VA loans, which were assumable, but....you still had to qualify.

You are wrong about rent to own. You can own it one day, but yes....requires "option" money--a large chunk of change upfront that you don't get back if you default on the purchase.

You are also wrong about qualifying, as you state, it being a long process. I have lender referrals that I can give you and have you qualified in a day or two, after a simple phone call. Or....if you are not telling us something about your credit, maybe you can't qualify? Then what are your choices? Crazy lease option rent to own deal that saps you of your money, or maybe you talk to a lender, find out how far off you are from qualifying and work on your credit for a year or two. Prices in the market aren't going to change that much, and you'd still be buying on the cheap!
Good luck

Miss Crosby - what you are really looking for is to have a payment cheaper than what you'd pay for rent on the same home, is that correct? And you are looking to do that by taking over a mortgage payment, is that correct? These people who are having difficulty making their mortgage payments, do you think they are higher or lower than what renting that same property? If you think they are in large lower, you are mistaken. The loans that people cannot afford are typically those at higher payments than what rent would be & even a new mortgage payment would be (assuming you could qualify), higher interest rates than what are currently available, and owe more than what the collateral securing the loan (i.e. the house) is worth. But getting back to reality, if you want a bank to substitute you on the mortgage for an existing person (either by a mortgage assumption or novation agreement) you will have to go through some sort of process to qualify to do so. There is no way & no how that a bank will just allow you to go on the mortgage in trade for the other person without checking you out first. Sure, you could just start making the payments, and the homeowner could just sign a grant deed giving you the title of the home, but now you have a mortgage in someone else's name on a home you own - a mortgage that could potentially foreclose on you even if you are making the payments. It doesn't sound like you are opposed to having a mortgage, just qualifying for one, so what gives? Have you worked with abusive loan officers in the past?

I'd like to get in on the action here and react a bit regarding the comments of Richard Murphy...

Let's start by stating that not all real estate transactions have a real estate agent/broker involved.

However... Mr Murphy doesn't really know what he's talking about.... not really... He uses some terms like a "wrap mortgage" and a "lease option"... but these aren't really viable in my opinion. A "lease option" is a great deal for the seller... you know why...? most of them never go all the way and the so called Buyer usually pays a higher rent premium to get the option and takes care of the property because they think they are getting a good deal when they aren't really. Then that buyer turns it back to the Seller who does it all over again... neat huh...?

Sure... get on Craigslist and see if you can find a "desperate" seller willing to leave the house to you and have you take it over... not saying it can't happen, but let's put it this way... But there's a reason why they are desperate... you'd be taking over a mortgage that is "upside down".. why is that a good deal..?

Don't forget, if there is a transfer of title, the banks will find out about it eventually and then the fun starts

If it was as easy as Murphy says it is.. you'd hear lots more about it online.

I've been in this "bidness" for a long time now. Back in the day, late 70's early 80's there were what we called "assumable" loans, which at the time meant you could just take over the payments "subject to" without qualifying. Banks couldn't do squat about it either at the time... They hated it...

Your good friends in the legislature got lots of lobbying $$$ from the Banking and Savings and Loan industry. Through legislative acts both in the State and Federal "guv-ments" the banks were able to rid themselves of this little loophole long ago because it was costing them money.

So the nice thing we called "creative financing" back then is gone... Creative Financing in those days was the "art in real estate" because it took knowledge of the business to put those kinds of deals together. Deals that were "win-win".

Sure... there were lots of guys like Mr Murphy that put those kinds of deals together then... I just don't see that as a "viable" alternative for you now.

Go talk to a mortgage guy and see just how hard it really is. It's a hassle sure... It will be worth the effort. Keep this in mind when election time comes around next year. Be sure and vote for some folks that will take away some of the "regulations" that are killing this housing market.

I hope this helps...

Make it a great day...

Ah, the fun days of Creative Financing 101 from the 1970s are back. You are correct in that banks aren't accelerating loans due to the alienation clauses because they're just so happy that somebody -- ANYBODY -- is interested in making the payments!! There are very few loans you can take over by taking title "subject to." Most require a formal assumption.

However, with interest rates being so low, around 4.5%, you'd be better off qualifying. Qualifying is fairly simple and fast.

Elizabeth Weintraub
Broker-Associate #00697006
Lyon Real Estate

Sorry Miss Crosby,
Take this from someone who's always looking for the 'better way' around unnecessary regulations....your best way to meet your objectives is to get qualified for a loan (at a historical low rate better than any that someone might have already) and have the freedom to find a house that you really would like to buy.)

Robert Allen's books worked to some extent in the 70's and 80's. Not now.

I'm not aware of any assumable loan programs nowadays. I think that went out with the 1980's with the advent of the first REO debacle.

Why don't you want to go through "any process of qualifying for a home loan?" Is it because you would not qualify?

I hope there is not a program like this. Think about it (if it did exist), you "take over" payments on a mortgage while the mortgage is in someone else's name. You bail. They are left with the liability! Why would anyone in their right mind even think about letting someone do this?

To augment FSBOsuccess' comment. It could actually work in reverse as well. You could make payments for years on someone elses loan all while building the borrowers credit and lowering their balance. Then Voila they return and demand that you turn the home back over to them and thank you for your effort.

Or they sell the home right out from under you which would be a much cleaner way of dealing with it. Sounds pretty far fetched I know. But stranger things have happened. Anything goes in today's Wild Wild West RE climate.