November 18, 2025 • 28 mins
In this powerful new episode of the Be The Solution Podcast, host Maria Quattrone sits down with Caleb Christopher, founder of Creative TC, a national consulting company specializing in creative financing and complex non-traditional real estate deals. Caleb handles the “weird stuff” in real estate — creative structures like Subject-To, Hybrid Financing, and Seller Finance Combinations — closing 30–50 creative deals monthly nationwide
Maria and Caleb unpack how these deals really work, why most agents don’t understand them, what risks sellers and buyers must know, and how agents can identify when creative financing is actually the best (and sometimes only) solution for their clients.
💡 Key Takeaways
1. What Creative Financing Really Is
2. Why Sellers Choose Creative Financing
3. Why Investors Love Creative Financing
4. How to Structure Sub2 Deals Safely
5. Why Agents Say No — And When They Should Say Yes
6. When Agents Should Call Caleb
🗣️ Memorable Quotes
Maria’s Best Quote:
“Being the solution is all about finding ways to help, assist people, and walk them through the process.”
Caleb’s Best Quote:
“It’s cool to do deals with zero dollars out of pocket — but it’s not cool to do deals with zero dollars in your pocket.”
📞 Guest Contact Information
Caleb Christopher
Founder, Creative TC
📌 Nationwide creative finance consultant
🌐 Website: CreativeTC.io
📩 Free Consult: Book directly on the site
Creative financing isn’t mainstream — but it’s a critical solution for sellers in distress, investors seeking opportunity, and agents wanting to deliver options beyond the conventional.
As Maria says, “This is what it’s all about — Being the Solution.”
Connect with Maria Quattrone:
Facebook: Maria Quattrone
Facebook Page: REMAX at Home Facebook
Facebook Page: Rise in Real Estate Facebook
LinkedIn: Maria Quattrone
YouTube: Maria Quattrone
Instagram: @maria_quattrone
TikTok: mariaquattronerealestate
Website: MQrealesate.com
Office number: 215- 607-3535
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maria Quattrone (00:00):
All right, this morning I'm excited.
We are gonna talk with KaylaChristopher in regards to how to
use creative financing tostructure deals and how we can
break that down, what it lookslike.
You know, there's so many ways,I hate this saying to skin a
(00:25):
cat.
Poor kiddie, but there are somany ways to do that, so many
ways of creative financing, andwelcome Caleb to Be the Solution
Podcast.
Caleb Christopher (00:35):
Thank you.
It's an honor.
Maria Quattrone (00:39):
So creative financing, you know, sometimes I
get these offers and they say,We want to take over your
client's mortgage.
Um you call the client, theysay they want to take over the
client's, they want to take overyour mortgage.
(00:59):
Nobody understands it.
Agents aren't used to doing it,right?
I mean, this isn't normal.
But here you are, you have asuccessful business doing that.
So let's dive in and let's talkabout the different strategies
that are available as a buyerand as an agent so that you can
(01:24):
help your buyers with thiscreative financing.
Caleb Christopher (01:28):
Yeah.
So I own a company calledCreative TC, and that's
transaction consulting.
I know agents are used totransaction coordinator, but
that's included in what we do.
We coordinate, but we activelyconsult on these complex
creative finance deals.
So I do the weird stuff, but100% of the time.
So what you see like this oftenis my entire world, and that's
(01:50):
what we do.
So uh helping people understandhow to make the offer, how to
receive the offer, how tointerpret, what are the
different deal structures?
Should I let somebody else takemy deed to my house and then
still make payments on mymortgage?
Do I leave my mortgage inplace?
Do I sell their finances tothem?
What should I do?
What can I do?
That whole conversation is whatI built a business around
(02:12):
because it wasn't there for mewhen I started doing my own real
estate investing path.
And I got into the creativefinance because I saw you really
can help people.
They can get a higher price,you can rescue them from
foreclosure, put their creditback into a good standing, but
it takes ethical people on thebuyer side to make sure that
we're not taking advantage ofpeople and causing problems.
Maria Quattrone (02:34):
So, what's the number one creative financing
solution in today's environment?
Caleb Christopher (02:41):
Oh, the the really popular one is subtle.
That's taking it's an informalassumption, right?
Oh, you why don't you assumethe loan?
I don't want to go through thequalification process and the
120-day timeline to assume theloan.
I want to turn it into a rentalproperty.
I just want to make yourpayments.
Maria Quattrone (02:57):
Okay, so wait.
So in order to assume the loan,it's a 120-day process.
Caleb Christopher (03:02):
Yeah, unofficially, but uh when we've
seen it, it does take a frickin'long time.
And nobody wants to wait thatlong for the real estate
transaction to close.
And so it's it's thealternative, but it's not
something people turn to.
Maria Quattrone (03:17):
Okay.
And so subject two is let's gothrough it step by step because
oh yeah, I can tell you this 99%of the people don't understand
it and don't and don't do it.
Caleb Christopher (03:28):
Well, and I I want to say that I am okay with
people saying no to sub twooffers because they don't
understand them and they've gota lot of other stuff going on.
And agents, you guys have afiduciary responsibility to your
clients, and so recommendingsomething you don't understand
could be foolish, could be aproblem.
And so I understand thehesitance on taking on these
(03:52):
subject to offers or evenbothering to figure them out.
So, yeah, let's dive into this.
I'm gonna start with creativefinance, if we're gonna define
the term, it's non-institutionalfinancing.
So it's finding ways to buy andsell houses without using, I
guess, fresh financing, freshbank financing.
(04:12):
So it can be as simple as aseller finance where somebody
has a paid-off house and theybecome the bank for the buyer,
or it can be as complex as someseller finance combined with uh
a buyer taking over a seller'smortgage payments.
Maria Quattrone (04:28):
A buyer taking over a seller's mortgage
payment.
Why would a seller want to dothat?
Caleb Christopher (04:34):
Usually it's because they want their price,
and this is the way the buyer'sable to do that.
Maria Quattrone (04:39):
So let's break so let's break it down.
What is it?
What does a deal structure looklike?
Caleb Christopher (04:44):
The simplest structure is if you owe what
your house is worth and you sellto me, I just step in and take
over your payments.
No cash to you.
You walk away from the house, Itake over your payments.
A lot of times, my customers,my clients are finding these
deals off market already.
So if that's the case andthere's no agent fees, then it
(05:06):
makes sense for the walk away.
Your house is you're not upsidedown on the house, but I'm not
going to pay you anything, I'lljust take over your payments.
And that's where the seller isunder pressure to move, to do
the next thing.
They've lost their job, they'verun out of money.
Usually there's financialdistress, and it would cost them
money out of pocket to selltheir house traditionally.
And so the creative financedoes offer a solution in that,
(05:29):
hey, you don't have to payanything to sell your house.
We'll step in, maybe even giveyou five or ten thousand dollars
for moving expenses, etc.
Uh, but we'll take over the thepayments.
Maria Quattrone (05:41):
Now, why would an investor want to do that?
Caleb Christopher (05:44):
What kind of in uh interest rates can
investors get today?
Maria Quattrone (05:49):
Seven.
Caleb Christopher (05:50):
Yeah.
I can take over a four percentmortgage with a sub two.
That's why.
Maria Quattrone (05:54):
What if their mortgage isn't?
What if it's like six?
Caleb Christopher (05:57):
Still, it comes down to down payment.
So with less cash up front, Ican I can step into a property
that will break even or cashflow, far less cash out of
pocket to do a subject to dealin many cases, than to go get a
new fresh investor loan at ahigher interest rate.
Maria Quattrone (06:14):
So, and there's basically let's just put it uh
a deal, a scenario on a table.
Seller owes 300,000.
I tell them the house is worth300,000 and you need 8%.
And I don't think we're gonnaget 300,000.
(06:36):
And we might get to let's saywe get 290.
Now you need to bring 35 to thetable.
Caleb Christopher (06:41):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (06:42):
That's rich.
That's rich.
Caleb Christopher (06:43):
Yeah, that's rich.
Maria Quattrone (06:44):
And that happens all the time.
And people that can that havesavings or can get the money
will bring 35.
Not to go to foreclosure, notto file bankruptcy.
Caleb Christopher (06:56):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (06:56):
And these are real life situations.
This isn't like some you know,BS, so okay.
But that house, you know, thethe the rates is five percent,
and um can rent you can rent itfor like two thousand.
There's no real upside in therent, like whatever the payment
(07:20):
is, that's what it's gonna rentfor.
Yeah, is that still worth it?
Caleb Christopher (07:26):
If it doesn't cost a lot of cash for the
investor to get into, yeah.
Like the the low entry feemakes up for a lack of cash flow
for the most part, because ifyou give it five years, if it
pays for itself for five years,we'll be fine, right?
It'll cash flow within the nextfive years uh as we have the
opportunity to raise rent.
(07:46):
And so from the investor side,yeah, it still can make sense.
It's not a stellar deal.
In fact, I have one of thosewhere the the rent was about
$1,250 and the monthly paymentwas $1,200, which from an
investor standpoint is losingmoney every month, by the way,
from after expenses.
So why did I take on that deal?
And how?
(08:07):
I told the people that if theymade a monthly payment to me, I
would take over their mortgage,I would take over their
payments, and I said, Caleb payswhen tenants don't, it's gonna
be a rental.
That's so I'm gonna make surethis gets paid one way or
another.
But they had two housepayments, they couldn't have any
missed payments on their creditreport because of a job
(08:28):
situation.
And so I said, This is what Ican do for you.
This is not a great deal today,but in five years it'll be
fine.
And so if you would help me fora year or two with these
monthly payments, I'll make thefull monthly payment and then
I'll be able to raise rent, andyou won't have to worry about it
after that.
Maria Quattrone (08:45):
So let me understand what happened.
These particular people have ahome they own, they live in, and
this is an investment property.
The investment property rents$1,200 a month or whatever.
Caleb Christopher (08:59):
It was it was their primary, just to be
clear.
So they moved out of theprimary property.
Well, it was their primary,they moved to a new primary and
couldn't sell it on the MLS.
Maria Quattrone (09:07):
So they've already gone through the okay,
so same, same, basically samescenario.
Caleb Christopher (09:11):
Exactly.
And so basically the samescenario.
You came up with a theoretical,and I'm like, hey, that
actually happened to me.
I actually was the buyer onone, and they paid me every
month to help take the mortgageoff their hands.
Maria Quattrone (09:23):
So in this case, they're they had to get a
tenant and they couldn't have itwhere the tenant could maybe
not pay the rent.
So you said, okay, I'm gonnapay the rent if the tenant
doesn't pay the rent, basically.
Caleb Christopher (09:38):
Yeah, you could put it in those terms.
Maria Quattrone (09:41):
I'm I'm that's what I heard you're saying, so
I'm like regurgitating it back.
Caleb Christopher (09:45):
That one's as the buyer, what I'm selling to
the you have to sell, right?
That's negotiation and closingsis sales.
I have to sell this idea thatCaleb will pay their mortgage.
Caleb will pay, even if I havea tenant in there who doesn't
pay, so I have to sell them onthat concept and understanding
that uh this is a business modelthat I already do and I pay my
(10:06):
bills.
Maria Quattrone (10:09):
And so, in regards to does the property
transfer to your name?
Caleb Christopher (10:15):
Yes.
Maria Quattrone (10:16):
So you do have the transfer cost and and the
title insurance.
Just no, if there's no agentsinvolved, then there's no
additional um commissions oranything like that.
Caleb Christopher (10:32):
Right.
Maria Quattrone (10:34):
So there's the cost of sale, and they have the
cost of sale unless you absorbthat.
Caleb Christopher (10:39):
As usually the investor, the people I work
with are used to dealing withhomeowners who are in distress
and who don't have funds.
And so the investor understandsI'm gonna have to pay all the
closing costs.
That's all on me.
And I give the seller some cashand they and they walk away a
lot of the time.
In this case, it was not it wasso not a good deal that I
(11:01):
didn't give them any cash.
I just took over the paymentsand they paid me for a little
while.
I mean, the total they paid mewas like $3,600.
So that wasn't gonna break thedeal to me, but I wanted them to
understand this is a businesstransaction.
It's not me willy-nilly justdoing stuff, it's not a game.
But if they had not paid me, itwouldn't have ruined my life,
(11:24):
wouldn't have ruined the deal.
It was $200 a month for like ayear and a half.
Maria Quattrone (11:28):
Got it.
So subject two, that's one.
Caleb Christopher (11:31):
Yeah.
Maria Quattrone (11:31):
What's the next one?
Caleb Christopher (11:35):
Uh it's usually a combination of subject
two and seller finance wherethere's more equity.
Oh, I'm gonna confuse people.
But basically, I'll take overyour payments and I'll make
payments to you.
So if it's worth $50,000 morethan what's owed, but it's still
not selling, then worth is a isa kind of a question there.
Maria Quattrone (11:54):
But but if I'm willing to pay your price,
there's mar so worth of it isright, there's market value and
then there's perceived marketvalue, what a buyer is willing
to pay.
Caleb Christopher (12:05):
Right.
Maria Quattrone (12:06):
And they're not the same number, especially
today.
Caleb Christopher (12:09):
Yep.
And so let's say that you youwant fifty thousand more than
what's owed on the property, andnobody's giving it to you, and
I step in and I say, I will givethat to you.
I'll give you your price if youlet me make payments.
What do you mean, makepayments?
Well, I'll I want your mortgagebecause you've got a low
interest rate, I want that tostay in place, and I'll give you
(12:32):
$20,000 up front, and I willgive you monthly payments of
$300 a month until the rest ispaid off.
That's the next most common.
It's a it's a hybrid of subjectto taking over your payments
and seller finance.
I make payments to you.
Maria Quattrone (12:51):
So, and they stay in the property?
Caleb Christopher (12:56):
No.
The investors do not want thesellers to stay in the property.
That this is a sale.
You're selling the property tome.
This is not my primaryresidence, this is a business
transaction.
I'm buying this to turn it intoa rental.
Maria Quattrone (13:09):
Okay, so they're leaving, or the tenant
that's theirs leaving, or maybethere's a tenant there and
they're saying, I don't know.
Caleb Christopher (13:17):
Yeah.
Maria Quattrone (13:18):
Okay, so let's talk about that.
There's a tenant in theproperty.
Let's put numbers out there.
I mean, I'm a number person.
Okay.
There's a tenant in theproperty, the property's on the
market for 250.
Not selling.
Market price says it's 250, butnothing's happening.
Caleb Christopher (13:43):
Yeah.
Maria Quattrone (13:44):
You're offering what?
Caleb Christopher (13:47):
Cash price, 190, 210 range.
You know, so the cash offer iswhere all investors should be
starting, anyways, because ifyou can buy at a discount, do
that.
But if you owe 200, you're notgonna sell for 190.
So that's the first price.
The next price is well, ifthat's not gonna work, I can
give you your price if you letme make payments in a cash flow.
(14:09):
So what was rent?
Did you say $15.
$1,500?
So I'm assuming that that'sgonna be break-even or barely.
Maria Quattrone (14:22):
$1,500, but they're month-to-month.
Caleb Christopher (14:25):
Month to month tenants, fifteen hundred
dollars.
But if that's market rent,there's not room for me to
increase it.
Maria Quattrone (14:31):
Well, you could sectionate it.
Caleb Christopher (14:33):
Okay.
So if there's if there is roomto increase the rent, then it's
a viable option.
But it sounds to me, based onjust the those high-level
numbers, it sounds like abreak-even monthly type of deal
for whoever owns that propertywhen all is said and done.
Maybe even lossy.
Very similar to the house thatI bought in Colorado.
(14:54):
So the offer is gonna be I willpay you your equity later.
I will pay up to $15,000 now,and I'll take over your
payments.
So if we're gonna $250, I'mgonna go down to what $235.
I'm gonna I'm gonna pay you$15,000 up front, and now I owe
(15:16):
$235.
I'll I'll take over yourmortgage payments, and then uh
you'll just have this lump sumpayment waiting for me to
refinance the house in five toseven years.
And you'll get a windfall ofcash when I do that.
That's not a first offer.
That's not somebody's somethingsomebody says yes to until
they've been beaten up by themarket.
They've had it on the MLS forfour months or something, and
(15:38):
they're like, nobody's buying atthis price.
And you get to somebody who'slike, I will pay your price, but
it's it's only if it's on myterms.
Because I can make it work, butit doesn't work today, it works
over the next five years, 10years.
You see the the the mindsetshift there?
Maria Quattrone (15:54):
Of course, yeah.
Of course.
So then here's the thing a lotof these properties are on the
market, yeah.
And they're listed with workerslike me.
Caleb Christopher (16:04):
Yep, yep.
Maria Quattrone (16:05):
And then you guys call us and we're and we
get the subject to, and we'relike, no fence, but we're busy,
right?
And then this is like doesn'tfit in that our in our round,
our square hole, our heart, or around box.
There's three, we threedifferent ones doesn't fit in
(16:26):
any of them.
And so at the end of the day,we want the seller to have a
win.
We also want to get paid.
Caleb Christopher (16:32):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (16:32):
Right.
And we have you know a contractto make that.
So how does that work in?
Because that's one of thethings that brokers are like,
I'm going to pay.
I don't know, I don't get this.
So this is one of the thingsyou hear from agents and
brokers.
Caleb Christopher (16:50):
Yep.
It doesn't have to be anydifferent than it normally is.
The seller can pay you, but Iyou I tell investors this too.
You have to bring enough youhave to bring enough cash to the
table as the investor buyermaking the offer, you have to
bring enough cash to the tableto pay the agent.
Because if your offer doesn'teven satisfy that, they're gonna
say no from a uh uhself-interest fiduciary
(17:12):
responsibilities aside, they'renot gonna encourage the seller
to take that offer if they don'tsee that they're gonna get
paid.
Maria Quattrone (17:17):
So while the the contract calls for the price
plus the fees, right?
So if the price plus the feesthat they can or willing to
accept don't make set, don'tthey add up, then there's no and
that's what we've seen, right?
We see well, they want to buyit with no money, with and
(17:39):
they're like, Well, what do whatdo we do?
Caleb Christopher (17:42):
There's I I say this a lot.
I was gonna say there's asaying, but it's actually from
me.
It's cool to do deals with zerodollars out of pocket.
Yeah, if you can, great.
It is not cool to do deals withzero dollars in your pocket,
that's irresponsible.
And so, yes, I understandthere's a lot of people that
want to take over with no moneyout of pocket.
That's not the reality when anagent is involved.
(18:04):
You're gonna pay themsomething.
The other side for the agentsis a lot of times if it's not
selling, this is a way to getpaid where you might not get
paid at all.
And so I often see agentstaking a reduced flat fee on top
of whatever that sale priceends up being.
So there is some negotiationgoing back and forth, and it's
not just a buyer-seller, there'sa buyer-seller and agent all
(18:25):
getting together to build asolution.
Maria Quattrone (18:27):
Caleb, there's the broker, the brokerage,
right?
So as an agent, you can't justsay I'm only gonna take X fee.
Like you have a brokerage thatyou have a fiduciary to as an
agent who they also need to bepaid.
Caleb Christopher (18:45):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (18:47):
Right.
And we do have minimumstandards of what we will, the
minimum we would actually workfor.
So there's that.
Caleb Christopher (18:58):
And there are plenty of transactions that die
right there because there's nota willingness to reduce fees,
and the house either goes on andsells on the MLS at a reduced
price, or it doesn't sell atall, and the and the agency
agreement expires.
And that's just the reality oftransactions.
Some come, some go, some work,some don't.
Maria Quattrone (19:19):
That's the reality of transactions, period,
because you can have any dealthat just doesn't come together.
You have a buyer, you have aseller, the end of the day,
buyer walks the day of closing.
I mean, that's the business.
Caleb Christopher (19:33):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (19:35):
It's a sucky part of the business, to be
frank, because you know, I saythis often, I'm I'm mainly a
listing broker, and not that wedon't work with buyers, we do,
but if I had to pick what side Iwork on mainly, and I'm a
seller's broker.
And so, you know, you have athe day closing, buyer doesn't
come day before closing, buyerloses job, uh day before
(19:58):
closing, uh, they want areduction of a hundred thousand
on a contract.
Like that's the part of thebusiness I really despise
because I market it for thelisting.
Yeah, I spent my my money,right?
My resources on doing all thethings to get the listing under
(20:19):
contract.
Then I had to do the work fromthe contract to the close and
then no payment.
So I think agents make you knowtoo much money.
I mean, most agents, if theymake 50, 60 a year, the majority
of people, that's the average.
(20:42):
Which I don't know how you canlive on that, quite frankly.
But that's another story foranother day.
Caleb Christopher (20:49):
And I I end up, I see, I I'm not in the
middle dealing with all the backand forth most of the time.
I'm the guy who comes in onceit's almost to the finish line
and helps polish things up andmake sure it gets across the the
finish line safe, legal andethical.
But a lot of times I'm seeing asituation where it's gone under
contract three or four times,dropped out anywhere close to
(21:10):
closing, the agent is juststressed and wigged out about
things like this is the thing,it's not gonna sell.
And so by the time somebodycalls Caleb and says, hey, 123
Main Street, we've made anoffer, they're willing to talk
about creative finance, can youhelp me close it?
I'm usually dealing with peoplewho are like, Thank God there's
a solution.
I'll take a reduced fee if Ican just get this thing out the
(21:32):
door.
I or or I've actually had quitea few agents say, I know this
person, I want to help them getthis sold.
I don't need to get paid atall.
As long as they don't have topay money at closing, they're my
friend.
That's actually happened quitea bit as well.
But that's not the normalthing.
I don't work in the normalspace.
That's not my world isn'twhat's normal.
And so when it's weird, that'swhen Caleb can get involved and
(21:54):
usually can bring a solution.
And I really like helpingpeople.
Maria Quattrone (21:57):
Well, at that point, people might be in a
desperate situation as well.
So and when your back's againstthe wall, either you're gonna
be, you're gonna um resist more,or you're gonna really finally
want the help.
Caleb Christopher (22:13):
So and it's usually the last 30 days of the
agency agreement where the agentis like, all right, what other
solutions are there?
What can I do without uhwithout saying yes to something
that might put my client atrisk?
Because the risk is that thisinvestor buyer actually doesn't
pay your mortgage, your seller'smortgage.
(22:35):
And that would be a shame too,because that will still hurt
their credit.
With sub two, the seller's loanis still open.
Caleb, if if you're buying myhouse, my credit score depends
on you making my payments.
Maria Quattrone (22:49):
So how does how do sellers get comfortable with
that?
Caleb Christopher (22:54):
Yeah, again, it's usually that they're
getting their price that theyreally insisted on, and so it
becomes worth it because they'regetting more cash up front, or
they're in distress and they'realready having damaged credit
from not making payments.
And so, how how much worse canit get, sort of thing?
It can get worse, but they'vealready got damaged credit.
But if we're saving them from aforeclosure on their record, it
(23:17):
is overall it's a net positive,right?
We we dodge a foreclosure, wemake your payments, and it
builds your credit back up.
And having an open mortgage isa great thing for your credit
score.
But if we default, it hurtspretty bad, too.
So, how do you secure that?
We do what's called awraparound mortgage or deed of
trust, and that that gives theseller the right to foreclose on
(23:39):
the buyer.
So if you're buying my house, Isell to you with a wraparound
mortgage, and that's a wholemasterclass in itself.
But when you give somebody amortgage, that gives them the
right to foreclose on you for ifyou default on the on the loan
here.
Maria Quattrone (23:54):
And how long?
Typically, what's the right tocure?
Is there what's the right tocure on that?
Caleb Christopher (24:01):
It's on a state-by-state basis.
Typically, it's the standard,yeah.
I mean, foreclosure isforeclosure.
It's well established withstate law, with court
proceedings, and things likethat.
So it's a well-known thing.
And in some states, it takesway longer than other states.
And so some are the same.
Maria Quattrone (24:14):
That's why people don't want to do that
route of foreclosure, likethey'll do like a deed in lieu.
Caleb Christopher (24:20):
Yes.
And and that is a greatsolution if the parties are
willing to do it.
So rather than go down thatfull route, hey, can you just
and I've been called in to talkto some investors who suddenly
can't make the payments.
The renter doesn't make theirpayments, the seller doesn't,
I'm sorry, the the investorbuyer doesn't have the cash in
the bank to continue making thepayment, and the seller's like,
(24:42):
you guys, what can help me out?
And I've talked and counseledthrough that where the the
investor, I said, Look, you madea commitment to pay their
mortgage, you're affecting theircredit score, you need to walk
away.
You need to deed the propertyback to them and let them sell
it.
And so there have beensituations like that where we've
(25:02):
just counseled somebody throughthat.
But hardship and heartache ispart and parcel of the deal.
So giving yourself the right toforeclose on somebody is an
important factor when you'reseller financing or giving this
sub to.
Maria Quattrone (25:15):
So if somebody doesn't, you know, if it's not
uh the property isn't orthax,they have to bring money to the
table and they don't want to dothat, why not just do a short
sale?
Caleb Christopher (25:28):
That's a valid option.
So also is foreclosure.
Foreclosure is a natural,normal process, and you can let
it go to foreclosure.
If you don't feel that youdon't feel security in your
buyer or potential buyeractually making the payments,
then don't risk it.
Just let it go the naturalroute, either to foreclosure or
(25:50):
the short sale.
Those are valid options.
Uh, the uh people choose thesub two option because they see
they catch the vision they seeand they understand that okay,
this is a business model, theyturn it into a rental, it should
cash flow up, it should rentfor as much or more than is
owed.
And the deal makes sense.
It only works when it finallymakes sense to everybody
(26:12):
involved, and this the sellergets a benefit.
Maria Quattrone (26:18):
What percentage of sales do you think get
subject to?
Caleb Christopher (26:23):
Oh, I don't know.
In the market, total sales wayunder one percent.
Maria Quattrone (26:28):
Just I was curious.
I just I know and and you'vebeen uh working on these
structured deals for how long?
Caleb Christopher (26:36):
Three and a half years.
That's all we do, 30 to 50 ofthese every month across the
nation.
Maria Quattrone (26:42):
So nationwide.
And you want an agent to callyou when?
Caleb Christopher (26:50):
That's a good question.
Uh if you get an offer and youthink it might be valid, like it
might be a val a viablesolution, and you want to talk
through and plan that, my teamhas free 15-minute consults for
just that reason.
Uh and I told you before theshow, I built what wasn't there
for me.
That's what this is.
So if you're an agent, ifyou're an investor, and you have
(27:12):
uh a potential deal, it lookslike a deal, but you've got
questions.
Uh, you're not sure.
But you if it's right, you'removing forward, call us.
Maria Quattrone (27:23):
How can they reach you?
What's the best way?
Caleb Christopher (27:26):
That would be creative tc.io, and you can
book a free 15-minute callanytime there.
Maria Quattrone (27:33):
CreativeTc dot IO.
Caleb Christopher (27:37):
You got it.
Maria Quattrone (27:38):
And go right to the calendar link, 15 minutes,
you'll walk through the deal,you'll look at it, you'll let
them know if it's something thatis viable and that you can move
to the next step with.
Caleb Christopher (27:51):
Yep.
We can help look at the look atthe the risks and rewards, and
you know, does this make sense?
Because if they've made anoffer that's not going to cash
flow, then they're probablygoing to default on payments
later too.
How do you evaluate thatperson, the buyer?
So we'll talk through all ofthat stuff because I want the
deals to be safe, legal, andethical.
(28:11):
And yeah, I sell services too.
The free 15-minute consult is afree 15-minute consult.
If there's something, if it isa deal, we can help you walk it
to the finish line.
If you want to just be done,you can be done.
Maria Quattrone (28:24):
Awesome.
Well, that's what this, that'swhat this is all about.
Being the solution, coming upwith solutions, finding ways to
help and assist people and walkthem through the process.
And you know, get referralsfrom other people that you've
helped, just like them.
Caleb Christopher (28:42):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (28:43):
Oh, Caleb, thank you so much for being on
Be the Solution Podcast.
This was great.
And again, people can reach youhow?
Caleb Christopher (28:50):
Creative Tc.io.
Maria Quattrone (28:53):
CreativeTc.io.
All right, this morning I'm excited.
We are gonna talk with KaylaChristopher in regards to how to
use creative financing tostructure deals and how we can
break that down, what it lookslike.
You know, there's so many ways,I hate this saying to skin a
(00:25):
cat.
Poor kiddie, but there are somany ways to do that, so many
ways of creative financing, andwelcome Caleb to Be the Solution
Podcast.
Caleb Christopher (00:35):
Thank you.
It's an honor.
Maria Quattrone (00:39):
So creative financing, you know, sometimes I
get these offers and they say,We want to take over your
client's mortgage.
Um you call the client, theysay they want to take over the
client's, they want to take overyour mortgage.
(00:59):
Nobody understands it.
Agents aren't used to doing it,right?
I mean, this isn't normal.
But here you are, you have asuccessful business doing that.
So let's dive in and let's talkabout the different strategies
that are available as a buyerand as an agent so that you can
(01:24):
help your buyers with thiscreative financing.
Caleb Christopher (01:28):
Yeah.
So I own a company calledCreative TC, and that's
transaction consulting.
I know agents are used totransaction coordinator, but
that's included in what we do.
We coordinate, but we activelyconsult on these complex
creative finance deals.
So I do the weird stuff, but100% of the time.
So what you see like this oftenis my entire world, and that's
(01:50):
what we do.
So uh helping people understandhow to make the offer, how to
receive the offer, how tointerpret, what are the
different deal structures?
Should I let somebody else takemy deed to my house and then
still make payments on mymortgage?
Do I leave my mortgage inplace?
Do I sell their finances tothem?
What should I do?
What can I do?
That whole conversation is whatI built a business around
(02:12):
because it wasn't there for mewhen I started doing my own real
estate investing path.
And I got into the creativefinance because I saw you really
can help people.
They can get a higher price,you can rescue them from
foreclosure, put their creditback into a good standing, but
it takes ethical people on thebuyer side to make sure that
we're not taking advantage ofpeople and causing problems.
Maria Quattrone (02:34):
So, what's the number one creative financing
solution in today's environment?
Caleb Christopher (02:41):
Oh, the the really popular one is subtle.
That's taking it's an informalassumption, right?
Oh, you why don't you assumethe loan?
I don't want to go through thequalification process and the
120-day timeline to assume theloan.
I want to turn it into a rentalproperty.
I just want to make yourpayments.
Maria Quattrone (02:57):
Okay, so wait.
So in order to assume the loan,it's a 120-day process.
Caleb Christopher (03:02):
Yeah, unofficially, but uh when we've
seen it, it does take a frickin'long time.
And nobody wants to wait thatlong for the real estate
transaction to close.
And so it's it's thealternative, but it's not
something people turn to.
Maria Quattrone (03:17):
Okay.
And so subject two is let's gothrough it step by step because
oh yeah, I can tell you this 99%of the people don't understand
it and don't and don't do it.
Caleb Christopher (03:28):
Well, and I I want to say that I am okay with
people saying no to sub twooffers because they don't
understand them and they've gota lot of other stuff going on.
And agents, you guys have afiduciary responsibility to your
clients, and so recommendingsomething you don't understand
could be foolish, could be aproblem.
And so I understand thehesitance on taking on these
(03:52):
subject to offers or evenbothering to figure them out.
So, yeah, let's dive into this.
I'm gonna start with creativefinance, if we're gonna define
the term, it's non-institutionalfinancing.
So it's finding ways to buy andsell houses without using, I
guess, fresh financing, freshbank financing.
(04:12):
So it can be as simple as aseller finance where somebody
has a paid-off house and theybecome the bank for the buyer,
or it can be as complex as someseller finance combined with uh
a buyer taking over a seller'smortgage payments.
Maria Quattrone (04:28):
A buyer taking over a seller's mortgage
payment.
Why would a seller want to dothat?
Caleb Christopher (04:34):
Usually it's because they want their price,
and this is the way the buyer'sable to do that.
Maria Quattrone (04:39):
So let's break so let's break it down.
What is it?
What does a deal structure looklike?
Caleb Christopher (04:44):
The simplest structure is if you owe what
your house is worth and you sellto me, I just step in and take
over your payments.
No cash to you.
You walk away from the house, Itake over your payments.
A lot of times, my customers,my clients are finding these
deals off market already.
So if that's the case andthere's no agent fees, then it
(05:06):
makes sense for the walk away.
Your house is you're not upsidedown on the house, but I'm not
going to pay you anything, I'lljust take over your payments.
And that's where the seller isunder pressure to move, to do
the next thing.
They've lost their job, they'verun out of money.
Usually there's financialdistress, and it would cost them
money out of pocket to selltheir house traditionally.
And so the creative financedoes offer a solution in that,
(05:29):
hey, you don't have to payanything to sell your house.
We'll step in, maybe even giveyou five or ten thousand dollars
for moving expenses, etc.
Uh, but we'll take over the thepayments.
Maria Quattrone (05:41):
Now, why would an investor want to do that?
Caleb Christopher (05:44):
What kind of in uh interest rates can
investors get today?
Maria Quattrone (05:49):
Seven.
Caleb Christopher (05:50):
Yeah.
I can take over a four percentmortgage with a sub two.
That's why.
Maria Quattrone (05:54):
What if their mortgage isn't?
What if it's like six?
Caleb Christopher (05:57):
Still, it comes down to down payment.
So with less cash up front, Ican I can step into a property
that will break even or cashflow, far less cash out of
pocket to do a subject to dealin many cases, than to go get a
new fresh investor loan at ahigher interest rate.
Maria Quattrone (06:14):
So, and there's basically let's just put it uh
a deal, a scenario on a table.
Seller owes 300,000.
I tell them the house is worth300,000 and you need 8%.
And I don't think we're gonnaget 300,000.
(06:36):
And we might get to let's saywe get 290.
Now you need to bring 35 to thetable.
Caleb Christopher (06:41):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (06:42):
That's rich.
That's rich.
Caleb Christopher (06:43):
Yeah, that's rich.
Maria Quattrone (06:44):
And that happens all the time.
And people that can that havesavings or can get the money
will bring 35.
Not to go to foreclosure, notto file bankruptcy.
Caleb Christopher (06:56):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (06:56):
And these are real life situations.
This isn't like some you know,BS, so okay.
But that house, you know, thethe the rates is five percent,
and um can rent you can rent itfor like two thousand.
There's no real upside in therent, like whatever the payment
(07:20):
is, that's what it's gonna rentfor.
Yeah, is that still worth it?
Caleb Christopher (07:26):
If it doesn't cost a lot of cash for the
investor to get into, yeah.
Like the the low entry feemakes up for a lack of cash flow
for the most part, because ifyou give it five years, if it
pays for itself for five years,we'll be fine, right?
It'll cash flow within the nextfive years uh as we have the
opportunity to raise rent.
(07:46):
And so from the investor side,yeah, it still can make sense.
It's not a stellar deal.
In fact, I have one of thosewhere the the rent was about
$1,250 and the monthly paymentwas $1,200, which from an
investor standpoint is losingmoney every month, by the way,
from after expenses.
So why did I take on that deal?
And how?
(08:07):
I told the people that if theymade a monthly payment to me, I
would take over their mortgage,I would take over their
payments, and I said, Caleb payswhen tenants don't, it's gonna
be a rental.
That's so I'm gonna make surethis gets paid one way or
another.
But they had two housepayments, they couldn't have any
missed payments on their creditreport because of a job
(08:28):
situation.
And so I said, This is what Ican do for you.
This is not a great deal today,but in five years it'll be
fine.
And so if you would help me fora year or two with these
monthly payments, I'll make thefull monthly payment and then
I'll be able to raise rent, andyou won't have to worry about it
after that.
Maria Quattrone (08:45):
So let me understand what happened.
These particular people have ahome they own, they live in, and
this is an investment property.
The investment property rents$1,200 a month or whatever.
Caleb Christopher (08:59):
It was it was their primary, just to be
clear.
So they moved out of theprimary property.
Well, it was their primary,they moved to a new primary and
couldn't sell it on the MLS.
Maria Quattrone (09:07):
So they've already gone through the okay,
so same, same, basically samescenario.
Caleb Christopher (09:11):
Exactly.
And so basically the samescenario.
You came up with a theoretical,and I'm like, hey, that
actually happened to me.
I actually was the buyer onone, and they paid me every
month to help take the mortgageoff their hands.
Maria Quattrone (09:23):
So in this case, they're they had to get a
tenant and they couldn't have itwhere the tenant could maybe
not pay the rent.
So you said, okay, I'm gonnapay the rent if the tenant
doesn't pay the rent, basically.
Caleb Christopher (09:38):
Yeah, you could put it in those terms.
Maria Quattrone (09:41):
I'm I'm that's what I heard you're saying, so
I'm like regurgitating it back.
Caleb Christopher (09:45):
That one's as the buyer, what I'm selling to
the you have to sell, right?
That's negotiation and closingsis sales.
I have to sell this idea thatCaleb will pay their mortgage.
Caleb will pay, even if I havea tenant in there who doesn't
pay, so I have to sell them onthat concept and understanding
that uh this is a business modelthat I already do and I pay my
(10:06):
bills.
Maria Quattrone (10:09):
And so, in regards to does the property
transfer to your name?
Caleb Christopher (10:15):
Yes.
Maria Quattrone (10:16):
So you do have the transfer cost and and the
title insurance.
Just no, if there's no agentsinvolved, then there's no
additional um commissions oranything like that.
Caleb Christopher (10:32):
Right.
Maria Quattrone (10:34):
So there's the cost of sale, and they have the
cost of sale unless you absorbthat.
Caleb Christopher (10:39):
As usually the investor, the people I work
with are used to dealing withhomeowners who are in distress
and who don't have funds.
And so the investor understandsI'm gonna have to pay all the
closing costs.
That's all on me.
And I give the seller some cashand they and they walk away a
lot of the time.
In this case, it was not it wasso not a good deal that I
(11:01):
didn't give them any cash.
I just took over the paymentsand they paid me for a little
while.
I mean, the total they paid mewas like $3,600.
So that wasn't gonna break thedeal to me, but I wanted them to
understand this is a businesstransaction.
It's not me willy-nilly justdoing stuff, it's not a game.
But if they had not paid me, itwouldn't have ruined my life,
(11:24):
wouldn't have ruined the deal.
It was $200 a month for like ayear and a half.
Maria Quattrone (11:28):
Got it.
So subject two, that's one.
Caleb Christopher (11:31):
Yeah.
Maria Quattrone (11:31):
What's the next one?
Caleb Christopher (11:35):
Uh it's usually a combination of subject
two and seller finance wherethere's more equity.
Oh, I'm gonna confuse people.
But basically, I'll take overyour payments and I'll make
payments to you.
So if it's worth $50,000 morethan what's owed, but it's still
not selling, then worth is a isa kind of a question there.
Maria Quattrone (11:54):
But but if I'm willing to pay your price,
there's mar so worth of it isright, there's market value and
then there's perceived marketvalue, what a buyer is willing
to pay.
Caleb Christopher (12:05):
Right.
Maria Quattrone (12:06):
And they're not the same number, especially
today.
Caleb Christopher (12:09):
Yep.
And so let's say that you youwant fifty thousand more than
what's owed on the property, andnobody's giving it to you, and
I step in and I say, I will givethat to you.
I'll give you your price if youlet me make payments.
What do you mean, makepayments?
Well, I'll I want your mortgagebecause you've got a low
interest rate, I want that tostay in place, and I'll give you
(12:32):
$20,000 up front, and I willgive you monthly payments of
$300 a month until the rest ispaid off.
That's the next most common.
It's a it's a hybrid of subjectto taking over your payments
and seller finance.
I make payments to you.
Maria Quattrone (12:51):
So, and they stay in the property?
Caleb Christopher (12:56):
No.
The investors do not want thesellers to stay in the property.
That this is a sale.
You're selling the property tome.
This is not my primaryresidence, this is a business
transaction.
I'm buying this to turn it intoa rental.
Maria Quattrone (13:09):
Okay, so they're leaving, or the tenant
that's theirs leaving, or maybethere's a tenant there and
they're saying, I don't know.
Caleb Christopher (13:17):
Yeah.
Maria Quattrone (13:18):
Okay, so let's talk about that.
There's a tenant in theproperty.
Let's put numbers out there.
I mean, I'm a number person.
Okay.
There's a tenant in theproperty, the property's on the
market for 250.
Not selling.
Market price says it's 250, butnothing's happening.
Caleb Christopher (13:43):
Yeah.
Maria Quattrone (13:44):
You're offering what?
Caleb Christopher (13:47):
Cash price, 190, 210 range.
You know, so the cash offer iswhere all investors should be
starting, anyways, because ifyou can buy at a discount, do
that.
But if you owe 200, you're notgonna sell for 190.
So that's the first price.
The next price is well, ifthat's not gonna work, I can
give you your price if you letme make payments in a cash flow.
(14:09):
So what was rent?
Did you say $15.
$1,500?
So I'm assuming that that'sgonna be break-even or barely.
Maria Quattrone (14:22):
$1,500, but they're month-to-month.
Caleb Christopher (14:25):
Month to month tenants, fifteen hundred
dollars.
But if that's market rent,there's not room for me to
increase it.
Maria Quattrone (14:31):
Well, you could sectionate it.
Caleb Christopher (14:33):
Okay.
So if there's if there is roomto increase the rent, then it's
a viable option.
But it sounds to me, based onjust the those high-level
numbers, it sounds like abreak-even monthly type of deal
for whoever owns that propertywhen all is said and done.
Maybe even lossy.
Very similar to the house thatI bought in Colorado.
(14:54):
So the offer is gonna be I willpay you your equity later.
I will pay up to $15,000 now,and I'll take over your
payments.
So if we're gonna $250, I'mgonna go down to what $235.
I'm gonna I'm gonna pay you$15,000 up front, and now I owe
(15:16):
$235.
I'll I'll take over yourmortgage payments, and then uh
you'll just have this lump sumpayment waiting for me to
refinance the house in five toseven years.
And you'll get a windfall ofcash when I do that.
That's not a first offer.
That's not somebody's somethingsomebody says yes to until
they've been beaten up by themarket.
They've had it on the MLS forfour months or something, and
(15:38):
they're like, nobody's buying atthis price.
And you get to somebody who'slike, I will pay your price, but
it's it's only if it's on myterms.
Because I can make it work, butit doesn't work today, it works
over the next five years, 10years.
You see the the the mindsetshift there?
Maria Quattrone (15:54):
Of course, yeah.
Of course.
So then here's the thing a lotof these properties are on the
market, yeah.
And they're listed with workerslike me.
Caleb Christopher (16:04):
Yep, yep.
Maria Quattrone (16:05):
And then you guys call us and we're and we
get the subject to, and we'relike, no fence, but we're busy,
right?
And then this is like doesn'tfit in that our in our round,
our square hole, our heart, or around box.
There's three, we threedifferent ones doesn't fit in
(16:26):
any of them.
And so at the end of the day,we want the seller to have a
win.
We also want to get paid.
Caleb Christopher (16:32):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (16:32):
Right.
And we have you know a contractto make that.
So how does that work in?
Because that's one of thethings that brokers are like,
I'm going to pay.
I don't know, I don't get this.
So this is one of the thingsyou hear from agents and
brokers.
Caleb Christopher (16:50):
Yep.
It doesn't have to be anydifferent than it normally is.
The seller can pay you, but Iyou I tell investors this too.
You have to bring enough youhave to bring enough cash to the
table as the investor buyermaking the offer, you have to
bring enough cash to the tableto pay the agent.
Because if your offer doesn'teven satisfy that, they're gonna
say no from a uh uhself-interest fiduciary
(17:12):
responsibilities aside, they'renot gonna encourage the seller
to take that offer if they don'tsee that they're gonna get
paid.
Maria Quattrone (17:17):
So while the the contract calls for the price
plus the fees, right?
So if the price plus the feesthat they can or willing to
accept don't make set, don'tthey add up, then there's no and
that's what we've seen, right?
We see well, they want to buyit with no money, with and
(17:39):
they're like, Well, what do whatdo we do?
Caleb Christopher (17:42):
There's I I say this a lot.
I was gonna say there's asaying, but it's actually from
me.
It's cool to do deals with zerodollars out of pocket.
Yeah, if you can, great.
It is not cool to do deals withzero dollars in your pocket,
that's irresponsible.
And so, yes, I understandthere's a lot of people that
want to take over with no moneyout of pocket.
That's not the reality when anagent is involved.
(18:04):
You're gonna pay themsomething.
The other side for the agentsis a lot of times if it's not
selling, this is a way to getpaid where you might not get
paid at all.
And so I often see agentstaking a reduced flat fee on top
of whatever that sale priceends up being.
So there is some negotiationgoing back and forth, and it's
not just a buyer-seller, there'sa buyer-seller and agent all
(18:25):
getting together to build asolution.
Maria Quattrone (18:27):
Caleb, there's the broker, the brokerage,
right?
So as an agent, you can't justsay I'm only gonna take X fee.
Like you have a brokerage thatyou have a fiduciary to as an
agent who they also need to bepaid.
Caleb Christopher (18:45):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (18:47):
Right.
And we do have minimumstandards of what we will, the
minimum we would actually workfor.
So there's that.
Caleb Christopher (18:58):
And there are plenty of transactions that die
right there because there's nota willingness to reduce fees,
and the house either goes on andsells on the MLS at a reduced
price, or it doesn't sell atall, and the and the agency
agreement expires.
And that's just the reality oftransactions.
Some come, some go, some work,some don't.
Maria Quattrone (19:19):
That's the reality of transactions, period,
because you can have any dealthat just doesn't come together.
You have a buyer, you have aseller, the end of the day,
buyer walks the day of closing.
I mean, that's the business.
Caleb Christopher (19:33):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (19:35):
It's a sucky part of the business, to be
frank, because you know, I saythis often, I'm I'm mainly a
listing broker, and not that wedon't work with buyers, we do,
but if I had to pick what side Iwork on mainly, and I'm a
seller's broker.
And so, you know, you have athe day closing, buyer doesn't
come day before closing, buyerloses job, uh day before
(19:58):
closing, uh, they want areduction of a hundred thousand
on a contract.
Like that's the part of thebusiness I really despise
because I market it for thelisting.
Yeah, I spent my my money,right?
My resources on doing all thethings to get the listing under
(20:19):
contract.
Then I had to do the work fromthe contract to the close and
then no payment.
So I think agents make you knowtoo much money.
I mean, most agents, if theymake 50, 60 a year, the majority
of people, that's the average.
(20:42):
Which I don't know how you canlive on that, quite frankly.
But that's another story foranother day.
Caleb Christopher (20:49):
And I I end up, I see, I I'm not in the
middle dealing with all the backand forth most of the time.
I'm the guy who comes in onceit's almost to the finish line
and helps polish things up andmake sure it gets across the the
finish line safe, legal andethical.
But a lot of times I'm seeing asituation where it's gone under
contract three or four times,dropped out anywhere close to
(21:10):
closing, the agent is juststressed and wigged out about
things like this is the thing,it's not gonna sell.
And so by the time somebodycalls Caleb and says, hey, 123
Main Street, we've made anoffer, they're willing to talk
about creative finance, can youhelp me close it?
I'm usually dealing with peoplewho are like, Thank God there's
a solution.
I'll take a reduced fee if Ican just get this thing out the
(21:32):
door.
I or or I've actually had quitea few agents say, I know this
person, I want to help them getthis sold.
I don't need to get paid atall.
As long as they don't have topay money at closing, they're my
friend.
That's actually happened quitea bit as well.
But that's not the normalthing.
I don't work in the normalspace.
That's not my world isn'twhat's normal.
And so when it's weird, that'swhen Caleb can get involved and
(21:54):
usually can bring a solution.
And I really like helpingpeople.
Maria Quattrone (21:57):
Well, at that point, people might be in a
desperate situation as well.
So and when your back's againstthe wall, either you're gonna
be, you're gonna um resist more,or you're gonna really finally
want the help.
Caleb Christopher (22:13):
So and it's usually the last 30 days of the
agency agreement where the agentis like, all right, what other
solutions are there?
What can I do without uhwithout saying yes to something
that might put my client atrisk?
Because the risk is that thisinvestor buyer actually doesn't
pay your mortgage, your seller'smortgage.
(22:35):
And that would be a shame too,because that will still hurt
their credit.
With sub two, the seller's loanis still open.
Caleb, if if you're buying myhouse, my credit score depends
on you making my payments.
Maria Quattrone (22:49):
So how does how do sellers get comfortable with
that?
Caleb Christopher (22:54):
Yeah, again, it's usually that they're
getting their price that theyreally insisted on, and so it
becomes worth it because they'regetting more cash up front, or
they're in distress and they'realready having damaged credit
from not making payments.
And so, how how much worse canit get, sort of thing?
It can get worse, but they'vealready got damaged credit.
But if we're saving them from aforeclosure on their record, it
(23:17):
is overall it's a net positive,right?
We we dodge a foreclosure, wemake your payments, and it
builds your credit back up.
And having an open mortgage isa great thing for your credit
score.
But if we default, it hurtspretty bad, too.
So, how do you secure that?
We do what's called awraparound mortgage or deed of
trust, and that that gives theseller the right to foreclose on
(23:39):
the buyer.
So if you're buying my house, Isell to you with a wraparound
mortgage, and that's a wholemasterclass in itself.
But when you give somebody amortgage, that gives them the
right to foreclose on you for ifyou default on the on the loan
here.
Maria Quattrone (23:54):
And how long?
Typically, what's the right tocure?
Is there what's the right tocure on that?
Caleb Christopher (24:01):
It's on a state-by-state basis.
Typically, it's the standard,yeah.
I mean, foreclosure isforeclosure.
It's well established withstate law, with court
proceedings, and things likethat.
So it's a well-known thing.
And in some states, it takesway longer than other states.
And so some are the same.
Maria Quattrone (24:14):
That's why people don't want to do that
route of foreclosure, likethey'll do like a deed in lieu.
Caleb Christopher (24:20):
Yes.
And and that is a greatsolution if the parties are
willing to do it.
So rather than go down thatfull route, hey, can you just
and I've been called in to talkto some investors who suddenly
can't make the payments.
The renter doesn't make theirpayments, the seller doesn't,
I'm sorry, the the investorbuyer doesn't have the cash in
the bank to continue making thepayment, and the seller's like,
(24:42):
you guys, what can help me out?
And I've talked and counseledthrough that where the the
investor, I said, Look, you madea commitment to pay their
mortgage, you're affecting theircredit score, you need to walk
away.
You need to deed the propertyback to them and let them sell
it.
And so there have beensituations like that where we've
(25:02):
just counseled somebody throughthat.
But hardship and heartache ispart and parcel of the deal.
So giving yourself the right toforeclose on somebody is an
important factor when you'reseller financing or giving this
sub to.
Maria Quattrone (25:15):
So if somebody doesn't, you know, if it's not
uh the property isn't orthax,they have to bring money to the
table and they don't want to dothat, why not just do a short
sale?
Caleb Christopher (25:28):
That's a valid option.
So also is foreclosure.
Foreclosure is a natural,normal process, and you can let
it go to foreclosure.
If you don't feel that youdon't feel security in your
buyer or potential buyeractually making the payments,
then don't risk it.
Just let it go the naturalroute, either to foreclosure or
(25:50):
the short sale.
Those are valid options.
Uh, the uh people choose thesub two option because they see
they catch the vision they seeand they understand that okay,
this is a business model, theyturn it into a rental, it should
cash flow up, it should rentfor as much or more than is
owed.
And the deal makes sense.
It only works when it finallymakes sense to everybody
(26:12):
involved, and this the sellergets a benefit.
Maria Quattrone (26:18):
What percentage of sales do you think get
subject to?
Caleb Christopher (26:23):
Oh, I don't know.
In the market, total sales wayunder one percent.
Maria Quattrone (26:28):
Just I was curious.
I just I know and and you'vebeen uh working on these
structured deals for how long?
Caleb Christopher (26:36):
Three and a half years.
That's all we do, 30 to 50 ofthese every month across the
nation.
Maria Quattrone (26:42):
So nationwide.
And you want an agent to callyou when?
Caleb Christopher (26:50):
That's a good question.
Uh if you get an offer and youthink it might be valid, like it
might be a val a viablesolution, and you want to talk
through and plan that, my teamhas free 15-minute consults for
just that reason.
Uh and I told you before theshow, I built what wasn't there
for me.
That's what this is.
So if you're an agent, ifyou're an investor, and you have
(27:12):
uh a potential deal, it lookslike a deal, but you've got
questions.
Uh, you're not sure.
But you if it's right, you'removing forward, call us.
Maria Quattrone (27:23):
How can they reach you?
What's the best way?
Caleb Christopher (27:26):
That would be creative tc.io, and you can
book a free 15-minute callanytime there.
Maria Quattrone (27:33):
CreativeTc dot IO.
Caleb Christopher (27:37):
You got it.
Maria Quattrone (27:38):
And go right to the calendar link, 15 minutes,
you'll walk through the deal,you'll look at it, you'll let
them know if it's something thatis viable and that you can move
to the next step with.
Caleb Christopher (27:51):
Yep.
We can help look at the look atthe the risks and rewards, and
you know, does this make sense?
Because if they've made anoffer that's not going to cash
flow, then they're probablygoing to default on payments
later too.
How do you evaluate thatperson, the buyer?
So we'll talk through all ofthat stuff because I want the
deals to be safe, legal, andethical.
(28:11):
And yeah, I sell services too.
The free 15-minute consult is afree 15-minute consult.
If there's something, if it isa deal, we can help you walk it
to the finish line.
If you want to just be done,you can be done.
Maria Quattrone (28:24):
Awesome.
Well, that's what this, that'swhat this is all about.
Being the solution, coming upwith solutions, finding ways to
help and assist people and walkthem through the process.
And you know, get referralsfrom other people that you've
helped, just like them.
Caleb Christopher (28:42):
Yep.
Maria Quattrone (28:43):
Oh, Caleb, thank you so much for being on
Be the Solution Podcast.
This was great.
And again, people can reach youhow?
Caleb Christopher (28:50):
Creative Tc.io.
Maria Quattrone (28:53):
CreativeTc.io.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.