Owner Financing Resources
Plain-language guides to owner financing, creative financing structures, and investment property analysis. Written for people making an actual decision, not for search engines.
10 guides · Last updated
Buyer Basics
Start here if you are trying to buy a home and a bank has said no.
How Owner Financing Works: A Buyer's Guide
How owner financing works step by step — who holds the note, what the down payment and interest rate look like, what a balloon payment means, and where the real risks sit.
7 min readCan I Buy a Home With Bad Credit?
What credit score you actually need to buy a house, which loan types accept low scores, and how owner financing works when a bank has already said no.
6 min read
Financing
How the financing structures actually work, and where each one bites.
Owner Financing vs. Traditional Mortgage
A side-by-side comparison of seller financing and a bank mortgage — approval, rates, closing costs, timelines, protections, and which one fits which buyer.
5 min readCreative Financing 101
Seller financing, subject-to, wraparound notes, lease options, contracts for deed and seller carrybacks — what each structure actually is, and where each one bites.
6 min read
Investing
Underwriting, deal math, and the numbers behind investment purchases.
Fix & Flip Analysis Guide
How to underwrite a fix and flip — the 70% rule and why it fails, building a real repair budget, holding costs people forget, and the exit math that decides the deal.
5 min readCommercial & Multifamily Acquisition Primer
How commercial and multifamily deals are underwritten - NOI, cap rates, DSCR, the difference between 4 units and 5, and what actually happens in a commercial due diligence period.
5 min readReal Deal Breakdowns: How the Numbers Work
Worked examples of owner-financed purchases - down payment, monthly payment, balloon balance and the refinance exit, with the arithmetic shown at each step.
4 min read
Local Market
Market-specific guidance, grounded in our own listing data.
Memphis Neighborhood Guide for Buyers & Investors
A practical guide to Memphis submarkets by ZIP code - how the areas differ, which ZIPs carry the most owner-financed inventory, and what to verify before you buy.
5 min readMemphis Investment Property Underwriting Checklist
A step-by-step underwriting checklist for Memphis rentals - income, the expense lines investors get wrong, Memphis-specific title and code risks, and the go/no-go tests.
5 min read
Reference
Look things up.
Where you can use Ownerfi
You can use Ownerfi to find properties anywhere in the United States. We list the owner-financed and seller-financed homes we find, sourced from markets across the country, and buyers in any state can browse and enquire about any listing on the platform. There is no geographic restriction on who may use the site. Coverage varies by state and changes as inventory changes — some states have many listings at any given time and others have none.
Ownerfi is not a brokerage. Publishing property listings and educational material is not real estate brokerage, and it is not something we do on anyone's behalf. Ownerfi does not represent buyers or sellers, does not negotiate on your behalf, and does not provide legal, tax, or financial advice — in Tennessee or in any other state.
Representation comes from a licensed agent in the property's state. Real estate licensing is state by state. When you are ready to make an offer, you work with an agent licensed in the state where that property sits. Our referral relationships operate through licensed brokerages, and our own referral business is based in Tennessee.
Nothing on this site is legal, tax, or financial advice. Property details come from third-party sources and must be independently verified. Have a licensed attorney in the property's state review any documents before you sign them.
Looking for actual listings?
These guides explain how owner financing works. To see homes currently listed with owner financing, browse by state or city.