Mike’s Real Estate Show

Wish to buy but don’t have the resources to take advantage of this great “Buyer’s” market in Sonoma County? Give the “Equity Share” arrangement a try.  This is a simple principle wherein you “partner” with an investor who purchases a property and you both agree to the terms of the deal, occupancy, payment structure, and return on investment for the investor and then project out a number of years for the equity share. This involves allowing the home to appreciate or gain equity. You then sell the property in the future and split the equity gain above a certain baseline.
There is a lawyer who advocates for equity shares and lectures on it weekly here in the North Bay area of San Francisco. Her name is Marilyn Sullivan and if you Google her name you’ll find her website. All the templates and contracts are there for the taking. She does not charge for this information but only bills you if you wish to meet with her in her law office. She also is an expert at setting up trusts and estates to avoid burdensome taxes. I’ve heard her many times and she is not “late night real estate guru” but a very caring and sharing attorney (I know–doesn’t fit?!) Give her site a visit.
Word of caution–don’t get locked into a scam equity share where an investor, totally over his or her head, tries to get you to make outrageously high monthly payments with an absurdly high equity share portion. This usually means the investor has gotten to many loans on the property, is sideways on most of them and is looking for some sucker to make some payments before they all go kaput!! Don’t do any of this in a vacuum! Have an attorney a good, local Realtor check out the investor and/or contract. Beware of guys with slogans on their cars like, “Real Estate Apprentice Wanted!” or “I buy houses for Cash!!” Scammers.