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I hope I am posting this question in the right sub-forum. Since it applies both to mortgages and renting I was a little unsure. With that said, here is my question.
I have been renting a 5-year-old townhome for 4.5 years and the owner has now decided to sell it. However, it is in a community that is still under construction. The houses up the street are just now being worked on (again) after a 2+ year hiatus. The brand new houses up the street are close to the asking price of this one.
I would very much like to buy the townhouse I am living in and the landlady wants to sell to me but I am self-employed (making my living online) and banks are not lending to people like me right now.
I have never missed or been late on my rent since moving in so I know that I will be able to continue making mortgage payments, even if no one is willing to give me a mortgage. I have owned a home before (for 18 years) but sold it in 2006 just before real estate took a nose dive.
My landlady is selling the townhouse because she wants to retire from the real estate market (she is an agent-broker in her mid-seventies). She wants to live on the money she will make by selling the townhouse and therefore is partial to a clean outright sale. However, she has told me a couple of times that she might consider a lease / purchase option. But the longer the house is on the market (she listed it May of 2010) the more desperate I think she becomes to get out from under it. She does not own the house free and clear but still holds a sizeable mortgage on it.
A clean sell would benefit her immediately while a creative financing arrangement would benefit me. If she would give me 2 years or so to show outstanding 1040's, I know I could get a mortgage. But until then, I can't.
I thought about a land contract but that would give her all the power and put my investment at great risk. Something like a balloon note -- paying on it for two years and getting a mortgage before month 25 might be a good option as well. But I can't think of anything other than those two options.
If you have any ideas, I'm listening. Thanks in advance ...
only thing I can think of, and not sure it's much help, would to see if you could have someone co-sign the loan. That way the bank would be assured of getting their money.
Thank you for the helpful advice. I appreciate your insights.
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