Crazy Seller Financing Terms

[Rebecca Styer]

I saw a craigslist ad for a 3 unit for 120K.  I only have enough for about 10% down right now so I asked the seller if they would consider seller finance for three years. Here were his terms:

10 yr amortization @ 10%, 10% down, 36 month balloon.

In his ad he said the building has a net income of $18900.

Who would be crazy enough to accept terms like this? Am I missing something?

I politely thanked him for responding and told him that I couldn't run a building 3 years with essentially no income.  

Wasting time is not my cup of tea and I know that can burn me sometimes.  Should I be approaching this differently?  I'm mentally prepared for "no" but i'm not mentally prepared to be treated like I'm somehow lucky to work for nothing for 3 years.

[Account Closed]

You are asking the seller to finance, and you only have just enough for the down payment and now if anything goes wrong. How would you handle the repairs? Just save your money so you can pay cash.

Joe Gore