Seller Financing Requests

[Noel Volin]

Thank you in advance for sharing your expertise.  

I'd like to buy a residential home for myself but I'd like to see if I could get owner financed, either whole or partial.  I am thinking to provide two offers, one with jumbo loan and another with owner financing.  I figure that if the owner has a current mortgage that perhaps I could offer to get a mortgage for payoff of their mortgage and then owner finance the remainder?  Is that possible?

Also, I am wondering if offering a 4% fixed 30 year for owner financing with 10% down is reasonable or laughable?  The current owner is recently widowed and ~70+ yrs. old.  Since current 30 year bonds are only providing 3%, I would like to know if this type of offer makes sense or is way off.

What would you do?  Is there more information I could provide?

Also, part of the reason for doing this is to keep some of our down payment and mortgage costs/options available to purchase small multi-family.  Balancing wife's nesting needs with my long term goals of real estate investing.

Thanks!

Noel the Newbie :)