Interest only with 6 months pre-paid upfront. $50,000 Balloon payment due in 18 months.

You could also take a larger security deposit (if your state allows this) or prepaid rent (if tenant has the money), but you're still taking a risk dealing with people you know nothing about.

Quick question: I have the funds to cover the 3.5% FHA required down payment.I would like to put in an offer on a home asking is 172,600.Offer 180,000.Seller pays up to 7,400 Closing cost (bank fees, etc + prepaid)Understand that home will need to appraiser for 180k.Will the bank and/or title company understand the contract as such?

Many times I see borrowers confuse prepaids (property taxes and insurance) as a closing cost.

@Joshua Hawkins, I don't have any specific person to recommend, but I personally been using Legal Shield (formerly Pre-paid Legal).

Being foreigners we started with a zero credit score although we have now built this up to a stage where we have a credit card and no longer on prepaid gas.

Even if they're willing to settle for $2k, and that's worth it for your situation, I would rather offer them $4k in pre-paid HOA dues to cover the next X years in exchange for wiping out the back-dues - rather than paying $2k in expenses for someone else's debt..

Originally posted by "dafly":When you see a "For Rent" sign and wonder how much they are charging.Bonus points if you pull out your cell phone and call the number immediately to find out.I have actually bought the 20 dollar prepaid cellphones with local area codes and asked for rent figures in differnet "dialiects" so I could call appear as a local and not be tracked...lol.

Closing costs and prepaid expenses must be paid by the borrower in cash or paid through premium pricing or by the seller, subject to a 6 percent limitation on seller concessions. -- FHA mortgage insurance is not free.

I looked at a lot of services, and finally went with a prepaid Verizon Wireless account.