Land Contract HELP

[Marcus Andrews]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to investing and have yet to purchase a property. That being said I have been working like crazy to find a deal. I was very interested in a fourplex that had great numbers but after going through it I realized it needed a lot of work and was only a triplex anyways (fourth unit was in basement with no windows!!!)

Anyways, I'm interested in a single family that is vacant now but is in nice shape. I've ran just about every number I could have and this property is at a great price and generates some nice cash flow (COC of 25% and CAP of 12%). I am 18 years old so I have absolutely no credit or money but I can get the downpayment from a private money source. The owners said they would be interested in doing a land contract but would not let me sign a note to do direct seller financing. I've heard to stay away from land contracts because of the power it gives to the seller but my realtor said that there would be a deed written up with my name on it and would sit in escrow with the bank or title company. I'm not sure what the sellers are going to want for an interest rate or how long until the balloon but I am going to talk to the bank to find out about the details of refinancing this place with the them in x years (I'm assuming the seller will want money in 3 years) once I can show that I have been making payments and I hopefully will have good credit at that time. This sounds a lot more safe than what I've been hearing but I thought I would ask and get some input. Thanks a lot guys!

Marcus