This Real Estate Secret Could Make You Rich in 2025
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Every time I post about closing a new real estate deal, I get flooded with the same questions:
"Marc, how are you getting deals done in THIS market? With THESE rates? In THIS economy?"
Here's my 3-step blueprint for getting deals done right now:
Shut off the TV.
Stop paying attention to politics.
Learn how to structure seller financing.
I can't help you with steps 1 & 2 — you'll have to figure those out yourself.
But seller financing?
I got you.
What Is Seller Financing?
At its core, seller financing is when you use the seller's equity to help buy into the project. Instead of getting a traditional bank loan, the seller acts as your lender.
Here's the thing about today's market: Everyone is sitting on properties with cheap debt from the last few years. Prices are still elevated from COVID, but with 7% interest rates, nothing pencils traditionally.
That's exactly why seller financing is so important right now.
The Top 4 Reasons I Love Seller Financing
Zero Down Potential
Sometimes sellers have their property completely paid off. In these cases, they can finance the entire purchase — meaning you might be able to get in with zero money down. They know what the property produces for income, so they can structure the debt payments based on the cash flow. This is rare and requires creative negotiation, but it does happen.
Lower Down Payments
Even when you do need a down payment, it's usually lower than what a bank would require. If a seller has $600,000 in equity on a million-dollar property, maybe you can use $300,000 of that equity for your down payment. (Check out the video above for more details on this strategy.)
Flexible Terms
This is the big one. When you're negotiating with a seller instead of a bank, you have room to get creative. Want a 3-year interest-only period? Need a lower rate for the first few years? These are all on the table when you're dealing directly with a seller.
Access to Bigger Deals
Here's where people mess up: They try to seller-finance duplexes and 4-plexes. Think bigger. The same amount of work goes into structuring a 48-unit deal as a duplex. And with bigger deals, you usually have more room to get creative with the terms.
Why Would Sellers Even Consider This?
Simple. In this market, they don't have a choice.
Remember when COVID hit and everything was flying off the shelves because debt was so cheap? Well, those days are gone. Now we've got:
Nothing that pencils traditionally.
7% interest rates instead of 3%.
Very few buyers in the market.
Properties sitting unsold.
That's where someone like me comes in. I'll say: "I'll give you your price, but here's how we need to structure it..."
Let's Look at a Real Deal Structure
Here's a sample deal in North Dakota:
16-unit property
Asking price: $2.4 million
Appraised for: $2.6 million
You can structure it like this:
20% down ($480,000 from you and the investors you reach out to)
Seller finances remaining $1.92 million
7% interest rate
10-year term with balloon payment
Monthly payments: $12,776
The Numbers:
Gross Monthly Rent: $1,500 per unit x 16 units = $24,000
Operating Expenses: 40% of gross rent = $9,600
Net Operating Income: $14,400
After Debt Service Cash Flow: $1,624
Is It Risk-Free? Hell No.
There are always risks:
Sellers might charge high interest rates
They might structure harsh default terms
There could be due-on-sale clause issues
Market risks still exist
But here's the thing — there’s a lot of noise from people like Jamie Dimon saying rates will come down. Of course, Dimon isn’t an oracle and has been wrong plenty of times, but it’s a reasonable belief at this stage.
When they do, you can:
Refinance with a traditional bank.
Sell the property.
Renegotiate with the seller (and maybe pay them off even faster)
The Bottom Line
Stop looking for reasons why deals won't work. In this market, you need to get creative. Almost any deal can work if you structure it right.
And please — think bigger. Skip the duplex and go for the 24-unit or 48-unit property. The work is the same, but the payoff is much bigger.
Is it complicated? Yeah.
Will it take work? Always.
Is it worth it? Absolutely.
Because at the end of the day, the people getting deals done right now aren't the ones waiting for the perfect market conditions. They're the ones figuring out creative ways to make deals work in any market.
And that’s how you build real wealth in real estate.