Blog: WHY & WHEN To Sell Your Note

Blog: WHY & WHEN To Sell Your Note

Today, a large and growing number of people across the country are providing seller financing to home buyers (through seller carry-back mortgages) because seller financing is the only way to sell their homes in a still tight bank lending environment. Most people don’t want to hold these mortgages very long. All want to sell for the right reason at the right time.
The primary factors influencing WHY & WHEN to sell your mortgage are:

  1. Necessity. For a variety of reasons – from global recession to personal loss or tragedy- many people today are facing tough financial times. Sale of a mortgage is often the only available means for obtaining a large lump sum of cash quickly. This is money needed to meet everyday living expenses, not to mention funding any large (car, home, medical expense, vacation, etc.) purchase.
  2. Reduce monthly debt. Many families today are laden with a mountain of credit card dept often at onerous 16% to 18% or higher interest rates. Note sale proceeds can lighten or eliminate this costly debt and increase monthly cash flow dramatically.
  3. Earn a higher return on investment. The opportunity here is clear when one is holding a low yielding 3% or 4% interest rate mortgage – in a stock market where many equities are experiencing double digit growth, and where real property can still be purchased at 50% of former market highs.
  4. Eliminate hassle. Being a creditor is a complex, time consuming and often tedious business most people would just as soon do without. Too often it’s chasing monthly payments. And always it’s a morass of insurance, property tax, IRS reporting, delinquency, title, foreclosure and even bankruptcy issues that just keep coming.

In sum, a lively and healthy market for seller-held mortgages exists today. The need to sell is demonstrable, the window of opportunity is open, and the climate is very receptive. Sellers are seeking the highest price possible from a nationwide group of competing purchasers. Thus the pressure on prices is upward; and the advantage is squarely on the seller’s side. It’s a very good time to sell your note.