Subject To Deals (aka “Get the Deed”) and Lease Options are both proven and profitable ways to invest in real estate with little or no money down. Both methods are valuable in your toolbox to provide more tools and ways to work with motivated individual sellers on the right solution that works for both of you.
A meeting of the minds with a motivated seller is the first step to any great real estate deal.
Subject To Deals are Low Risk and No/Low Cost
Many investors miss the main reason why subject to deals (aka get the deed) can be preferred over a lease option or even a sandwich lease option. After all, subject to deals appear to obligate you to purchase the house rather than only giving you the option to purchase. I’m going to share the secret why subject to deals are not an obligation to purchase but first let’s look at when a sandwich lease option probably isn’t the right tool for working with motivated sellers.
A seller calls you on the phone and says he is 2 months behind on payments. Do NOT enter into a sandwich lease option for this house! This seller’s financial problems could become your financial problems. This person’s name is going to remain on the deed with a sandwich lease option. If you enter into a lease option with a tenant-buyer and this seller loses the house to foreclosure, you’re going to have a lot of trouble delivering the deed to your tenant-buyer. Very likely, you’ll have to clean up the seller’s financial problems before you can finish the sale to the tenant-buyer.
Subject to deals work better when the seller is in financial trouble!
The secret trick with subject to deals (aka get the deed) is that your name goes on the deed. And you start directly making the mortgage payments. You are in full control, which we all know is the true secret to succeeding at real estate investing.
How Subject to Deals (aka Get the Deed) Put You In Control
Not every seller who is in financial trouble will tell you so, which is why you ALWAYS need to do research on the title 
before you get the deed or do an option. In this case, you will need to bring the seller’s mortgage current. But before you do, you want to make sure that he is the owner of the property and there are no other liens on the property.
By doing the research, you know exactly how much financial trouble the motivated seller has. You can decide if bringing a couple of missed payments current is worth gaining full control of the property. Once the mortgage is current again, your remaining risk closely approaches zero. Your name is on the deed but the mortgage is still in the seller’s name. Even if something does go wrong, the mortgage company cannot come after you directly (this is the secret reason you are not obligated to buy). Very important is that when you make direct payments to the mortgage company, they no longer have any reason to even think about a possible foreclosure.
You are in complete control. You can do anything you want with the property!
Now, A Lease Option Can Make Good Business Sense
You are now in the desirable position of having multiple ways to profit handsomely from this investment. If there is high appreciation in the area, you might want to make a fast profit with an outright retail sale because you are the full owner with full control.
Of course, there could be even more profit selling with a lease option. This no longer needs to be a sandwich lease option because, again, you are the full owner of the property. With your name on the deed, the previous seller does not need to be part of the lease option. But you can still collect the three paydays that come with a lease option.
Even bigger paydays are coming to you!
By taking full control with a subject to existing financing deal, you don’t have to pay even a small lease option fee to the seller, because you are the seller. But you do keep the entire lease option fee that the tenant-buyer pays to you. You also keep the full rental payment from the tenant-buyer each month without sharing it with the previous owner. A lease option is also the best way to receive full market value for the sale of the home, and you keep all of the profit, again without sharing it with the previous owner. At first glance, this might not seem like a win-win-win that includes the previous owner but it is a win for the previous owner because you prevented her or him from going into foreclosure that would ruin their credit for the next ten years.
Subject To Deals (aka Get the Deed) Have Even More Benefits
One big perk that comes with subject to deals is that these significantly reduce the costs to acquire the home. There are no closing costs, no origination fees, no broker commissions, and few if any other costs. For the real estate investor who plans to rent or sell the property down the line, this means room for more profits.
It also means you don’t have to qualify for a mortgage and there is no mortgage in your name. Not having the mortgage in your name can come in handy for a different deal if you do need to qualify for a mortgage later.
There is still a lot more to learn about subject to deals. Not every one of these is as simple as just taking over the mortgage. There could be times when the seller has a substantial amount of equity in the house and they want some money back. Your big advantage here is knowing that this is a situation when a sandwich lease option often becomes the best answer. However, other options might be a ‘subject-to deal combined with seller financing’ for the equity or a ‘wraparound mortgage’ (not often). Among all of the tools in the subject to course is a ‘pro and con’ list to determine if the best tool is a sandwich lease option or a subject to existing financing deal.
And the myth about the ‘due on sale’ clause in the mortgage is now debunked. In the past, when interest rates were much higher, lenders might have a reason to call the loans due when the due on sale was violated. With interest rates now consistently at historic lows, the mortgage company would be trading a currently fully paid mortgage at a higher interest rate for a new mortgage at a lower rate. The bank has no business reason to call the loan due.
As an ethical real estate investor and problem solver, you are the “Knight in Shining Armor” that relieves the seller’s headache and saves their credit!
NO Credit Needed for You!
Subject To Deals (aka Get the Deed) are a great way to invest using other people’s money.
The opportunity will never be better during your lifetime to richly profit by investing in real estate. Whether you want to invest using subject to deals or use another low/no-cost method with minimum risk, the detailed answers are at your fingertips.
- Investing In Real Estate with Lease Options.
- Advanced strategies for Buying and Selling with Lease Options.
- Your Wealth Building Arsenal.
- Add Personalized Coaching.
- Cooperative Lease Options.
- Expand to Get the Deed “Subject To.”
- Round it all out by Working with Realtors.
Happy Investing!
Wendy Patton
For more than 30 years, I’ve used the Sandwich Lease Option System to earn myself and my students millions of dollars. From my experience, I know there is plenty of room and opportunity in the real estate investment market for everyone wanting to participate to find profitable deals. It’s because of that fact and my personal success that I share the Sandwich Lease Option System with others.
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