Buying my first house: is seller financing my best bet? Need tips

[Chris M.]

Hey guys, I'm on a mission to purchase my first home (to live in, house hack, renovate and eventually rent out completely) by the summer of 2017. Here's the problem: I'm self-employed with a credit score hurt by student loans and a NET profit (income) that probably won't qualify me for the mortgage I would need at a bank. So, I started studying and figuring out how someone in my position could best attain a house, and these are the options I found:

a) Use seller-financing to avoid needing a credit check/big down payment

b) Get my dad or another trusted family member to co-sign onto a traditional mortgage with me to qualify

Frankly, option a) (seller financing) sounds infinitely better to me as I would prefer to avoid banks. But here's my issue: I live in Portland, Oregon, a bustling real estate market with very high prices.

From everything that I have gathered, owners of a home usually won't bother with seller financing in a strong market and that if a house IS offered via seller financing in a strong market, that means there is likely something fundamentally wrong going on... like a giant repair that needs to be done.

Are you guys able to find good seller-financing deals in expensive markets like Portland? Am I way off the mark here? I've narrowed down my paths to buying my first home next summer with either option a or b, most likely, and seller financing seems like the way to go, but I want to make sure I don't get myself into a bunch of trouble by doing so.

Thanks guys and I truly appreciate any feedback on seller financing in expensive/bustling markets. I know many real estate investors started their journey by purchasing a home with seller financing, so I'm figuring I can do it too. Look forward to your thoughts.