Recession Sparks 12 Surprising Comebacks
http://www.dolans.com/save_more/gallery/Oldies_But_Goodies__Recession_Sparks_12_Surprising_Comebacks-part8.html

• Comeback Kid #6: Seller Financing
• sellers are having a hard time selling and are looking to offer incentives to potential buyers.
• Comeback Kid #7: Lease to Buy
• making a comeback in the home-buying world is the old lease with an option to buy. It can be a win-win for both the buyer and the seller.
• For the seller, it means immediate income at a time when buyers are scarce.

Tapping Creative Financing
http://realtormag.realtor.org/sales-and-marketing/how-i-sold-it/article/2009/10/tapping-creative-financing

• After the prospective buyers were turned down for a loan, Rick Rosen revisited financing techniques he used to help buyers in the 1980s.
• Rosen used creative financing to help clients buy a home. Nearly 30 years later, he's finding that experience is coming in handy again.
• 19 out of 20 had a credit score below 600
• Many had been foreclosed on or had a bankruptcy in the past year. So we knew it would be nearly impossible to get financing for many of these people."
• With credit rules tightening and FHA, VA, and conventional loans turning away my buyers, I returned to temporary seller-created financing.
• Creative financing. In a changing market, opportunity abounds
• educating real estate professionals and home owners about smart financing techniques
• families who start off in a rent-to-own situation while rebuilding credit can become eligible to purchase a new or rebuilt home
• There's a lot we can do to bring the foreclosure crisis to a manageable level if we use education to reduce risk and create sustained households.
• We need to explore and embrace new business models and educate home buyers and real estate practitioners about these models if we're going to move beyond the current crisis.

Lease Option Sales Beats no Sale At All
http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/f3c66d0c6457c1e1862570af000cb13b/1c5d74259476e5d686257279005787ef?opendocument

• For sellers, builders, and real estate professionals, a lease-option sale is usually better than no sale, and can work for properties in all price ranges.
• Lease-options can work especially well in markets with an oversupply of homes or condos for sale.

Thought About Lease to Own Transactions
http://speakingofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org/2009/08/06/thought-about-lease-to-own-transactions

• financing remains a challenge
• it makes sense to start looking at lease-to-own transactions.
• even though the market is recovering, the long-term trend points to a continued tough climate for borrowers
• Households with less-than-stellar finances that could have obtained financing three years ago won’t be able to count on getting financing today or tomorrow despite improving conditions.
• But can you afford to write off such a large portion of today’s households, especially since these households still need housing?
• Structured right, they can get you immediate income from handling the rental part of the deal today and put in place a structure for generating later income as they move from renter to buyer tomorrow.

Industry Responds to Government's Request for REO Rental Ideas
http://www.dsnews.com/articles/industry-responds-to-governments-request-for-information-2011-10-05

• government is considering inventive ways to divulge excess inventory and return stability to the housing market
• As foreclosed homeowners are forced out of their homes, the rental market becomes increasingly competitive, and the need for affordable rental housing rises.
• The industry has responded with enthusiasm, ….. Suggestions include lease-to-own options, rent-and-hold, and joint profit sharing.
• selling homes to owner-occupants remains the most desirable option