Why seller financing?

[Chris Sharp]

I'm looking to house-hack a duplex to fourplex in my local neighborhood. I've been making spread sheets of all of the small multi-family properties within a few blocks of where I currently live. A triplex across the street from me just recently put out a for rent sign for one of the units. I used this opportunity to start off my cold calling.

I called the owner and had a good conversation with him in which he said he would consider selling. My main concern (after negotiating the price a little bit) is qualifying for the loan. I make enough to qualify for the debt to income ratios, however my credit is borderline being good enough. I have been consistently working on my credit for the past 2+ years but I started off with terrible credit after a few bad decisions as an 18 year old kid. 

Lastly this property is a little bit more expensive then I was originally looking to spend, however it will also demand higher rents. The issue with the higher price, is the bigger down payment and more closing costs.

I mentioned to the current owner that I would be interested in any creative financing options he would be willing to explore but he did not seem interested.

Does anybody have any ideas of what would possibly work for this situation? I would like to do seller financing but I need to figure out how to structure and present this to the owner that would make sense for him and I and motivate him to take that route. 

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.