The most important things when doing a subject- to are....will the property cash flow if you are using it as a rental.......what type of loan is it (you don't want an ARM that is about to adjust)....are you buying the property at a discount to have a good chunk of equity.

(So much for negotiating a cash discount.)

The problem is that this particular loan has not gone through the normal channels of loss mitigation...a short sale is not simply approved or rejected because a local mortgage branch employee doesn't want his company to take a discount...it is a more complicated process than that....even more so I called the corporate headquarters and they explained that he does not have the authority to make that decision.

Although now is a great time to buy rentals in a lot of areas, anytime that you can buy at a huge discount is a great time.

Full stop.You might work with the attorney such that they offer discounted services or other preferred deals that has no specific connection to the business you refer.

Or did I effectively get a discount on the price given the terms?

The tenant is usually the former owner, who sells the property to another party at a discount with the written condition that the former owner, now the tenant gets to live there rent free for life.Its a little known real estate acquisition technique, but it is very old, not a new subject.

It helped me reconnect with people I had forgotten about who really cared about me and boosted my morale tremendously.

This is offered as a loyalty discount for your excellent customer history with us.

Makes a lot of sense for a SD IRA/retirement account due to lower transactions vs a rental, you are buying the note at a discount, and getting double digit returns as a banker.