Helping sellers in a buyers market

[Gina Tavizon]

Although there will probably be plenty of opportunities for investors in this rapidly changing market due to the impact of COVID-19 and I like opportunity just like the next person, I would really like to help sellers keep their homes if possible. So, are there investors who would buy a home and rent it back to the seller and defer their rent a few months or so (obviously because of this specific situation)? Assuming the buyer got a discounted price that was worth it to them and satisfactory enough to the seller, and the buyer has reserves, it seems like this could be a win-win. Buyer gets a new property and will hopefully appreciate and seller gets to stay in their home. Because I know a lot of potential sellers as well as cash buyers. I’m sure this is not a new strategy...? I wanted to get some thoughts about this from the BP community. Thoughts?

[Joseph Cacciapaglia]

There was a lot of this in my market in the last downturn. However, there were a number of "consumer protection" laws that eventually made this practice untenable. I would check with your attorney before executing a strategy like this. I know the intention is to help the owner, but there were abuses of the strategy, and some ridiculous rules put in place in some states to prevent it. No good deed...