Attorney William Bronchick: William Bronchick Best-Selling Author

  Before we discuss the equitable interest, we need to discuss the basic owner–financed sale. When you sell a property, you give the buyer a deed to transfer ownership. If you owned the property free and clear before you sold it, you would take back a note for part of the purchase price, secured by a lien on the property (in some states a “mortgage”, in others a “deed of trust”). So, after the closing the buyer would have title (deed) and you would have a recorded lien against the property (“mortgage” or “deed of trust”). If the buyer stopped paying, you’d have to initiate foreclosure proceedings as specified by the mortgage or deed of trust. In mortgage states, the process is generally a lawsuit (judicial foreclosure), while deed of trust states the process is a “power of sale” (non-judicial) process. Before we move on to the lease option equitable interest discussion, let’s discuss the installment land contract. The installment land contract is an agreement by which the...

If you’ve been buying and flipping or renting single family homes, you may want to look into apartment investing. Yes, I know, you think you need gobs of cash to buy apartments, when the fact is you can buy apartments with little or no cash out of pocket. I’ve done it, my students have done it, and you can do it, too! Why Apartments? Apartments operate on an economy of scale. If you have 10 units and one vacancy you are still 90% occupied. When you lost a tenant on a single family house, you are 100% vacant. Multiple units allow you to spread the risk around. Apartments are cheaper per unit than single family houses. The more units you buy, the cheaper per unit cost. Multiple units means bigger discounts on supplies and materials. It’s easier to negotiate for 10 fridges than one. Multiple units makes professional management more effective. You can be a passive investor in apartments . Depreciation can give you huge tax write-offs against other income. Financi...