Someone asked for more detail on Creative Finance but these apply to all investing. Personally, I always look at the exit strategy for the property to determine which kind of Creative Finance I would use. Sometimes I actually walk away from the deal - Not All Creative Financing Deals Make Sense. 

I use a spreadsheet I developed to determine my entry costs, carrying costs, cash flow, tax write offs, appreciation and exit costs. I can tell in five minutes if it's a deal or not. Don't waste a lot of time analyzing. Make offers, then when someone says they will consider Creative Finance, that's when you make the suggestion. But, know what you want to accomplish beforehand.

Creative Finance is a great way to buy properties when done properly and lawfully. 

Typical investors use the MLS, 20% down & bank approval .

Times have changed in a lot of markets and using creative financing is catching on. But don't jump until you know the rules. Joining a group and watching videos is not the answer. It doesn't give you perspective and it doesn't answer questions at the critical steps. Each transaction is different.

Some types of Creative Financing include: Seller/Owner Financing, Land Contract, Wrap, Assumption, Subto (sometimes called Subject To), Lease Option, Contract for Deed. There are a couple of others less commonly used which are available but nit discussed here.

My humble advice to anyone attempting to do creative finance is:

Creative finance is for experienced investors who have access to capital, in case anything goes wrong.

1. Learn the laws

2. Don't use a contract "off the internet", laws vary by state and are also regulated on a federal level

3. Learn the financing techniques correctly

4. Too many untrained people use terms interchangeably when they are quite different.

5. Don’t skip parts of the process

6. Don’t ever do a “kitchen table” closing (always use proper title and escrow)

7. Use the proper deed

8. An attorney can help you with the legal work, but the rest you are on your own

9. Your guru will not bail you out

10. “Investing” in someone else’s deal by providing a small 2nd loan so the “investor” can pay for “cash to the seller” and for “closing costs” so he can do the deal is a very bad plan - if that is complicated to you, we need to talk :-)

11. Know what problems can arise

12. Learn the responses and solutions to problems before they are needed

13. Know everything there is to know about Title and what that means

14. Know who a "protected class" individual is

15. Learn the "back doors"

16. Learn human nature (when investing, the state of mind of the seller before and after the transaction matter)

17. Understand timelines (investor is most often very time sensitive)

18. Understand regulation enforcement (some of these "mistakes" have a 10 year statue of limitations ( they can charge you 10 years AFTER you do the transaction) and carry hefty fines

19. The court doesn't accept "I didn't know" for an answer" (don't assume things are as you think they *should* be - get help before getting started)

20. Know that the source of the lead plays a serious role in some states and federally

21. Know how much of a "profit" pushes the boundaries to invite an investigation

22. You can be sued by the seller if you don’t do things correctly

23. You are automatically at fault if an investigator or attorney or regulator gets involved. You have to prove you did everything right and then because of “empathy” for the poor snook who “fell into you schemes” you may lose anyway.

24. This is a legally binding transaction that will be treated that way by the law. There are regulations

25. I could go on, but if you learn this much, and apply it appropriately, you will cut down your sorrows and risk, considerably.

26. It's very profitable investing but you have to know what you are doing

And yes, there is much more. You can learn those things to..