It used to be a given that real estate was one of the safest investments but in 2008, everyone discovered that this wasn't exactly true. The pity is that most homeowners and landowners were not at fault. The blame rests on complex financial instruments that mixed good mortgages with bad ones: the so-called subprime loans..

Enter seller-held notes. These are now entering the mainstream simply because they're not part of the damaged investment packages investment banks created, traded and bet the global economy on. The old perspective - that seller-held notes were risky and a pain to deal with - is fading in light of the ugly reality of the failing, bank-backed sector. Why?

Individual Situations, Not Cookie-Cutter Assessments: : Thanks to their own mistakes, banks are making it increasingly difficult to qualify for mortgages. They set the criteria through institutional policies, and those don't always make sense in individual cases. That's making real estate prices fall even though there are still plenty of Americans who want to own a home.

Leaving aside obvious bad risks, there's an entire class of people who can afford more than the banks say they can. Examples include the successfully self-employed, or members of very secure professions (doctors, for example) who have a high debt to income ratio. The math says they can make payments on a bigger mortgage than they'll be approved for. Private notes fill the gap, giving these people the opportunity to buy real estate without you having to take a chance on genuine credit risks. The more the market contracts, the more these opportunities will arise.

Note Buyers are a Convenient Option: Not everyone has the time or patience to wait for the real estate market to sort itself out - and these days, you might do a lot of waiting to move your house. While you do so, the market shrinks and your house's value goes down - and while that happens, fewer people get approved for your minimum asking price. It's a vicious circle because it reduces demand drives your home's value down even farther.

If you go with a seller-held note, you control the time frame and the asking price absolutely. It’s a significant responsibility but if you’re willing to do it there’s no shortage of professionals able to advise you. But there’s an even more important consideration: You can change your mind and sell your note. Browse American Funding’s Information on Selling Your Note to get a handle on your options. We can convert your note into cash to help you deal with emergencies, or simply to make life more convenient when you decide you’re no longer interested in managing your note. Fill out our Real Estate Note Quote for to get a preliminary idea of what we can offer.