Seller is only willing to sell via owner financing

[Reuven Krumbein]

I am looking at a property listed by the seller, and for some reason the seller says he is only willing to sell through owner financing, with 10% down. Any reason in the world a seller would insist on selling only via his own financing? I mean, even if I'm thinking maybe it's a scam, I can't imagine how this would produce a successful scam any more than a conventional sale with conventional financing. Any ideas? Does it make sense he *actually*, for real, prefers to get paid in installments rather than having the cash at once?

Thanks everyone!

[Joe S.]

One of the reason some people only owner finance is because it typically closes and closes fast. If the seller does not have any prepayment penalties simply refinance out. We sell a number of our properties with owner finance for this very reason. We set up our buyers with a note servicing company and close at a real estate attorney’s office. 

Hope this helps.