Seller Financing - When 'Owner Will Carry'
Here you go dolling.

Very uncommon. It is such a disadvantage to a seller that most attorneys don't recommend sellers do it.

  Seller Advantage =  Good ROI, secured by real estate

  Buyer advantage =  No underwriting, no bank fees.

  Buyer disadvantage =  higher downpayment, higher interest rate (typically 2 points or more over market).

Advantage: Seller finds a buyer and possibly realizes the equity gain without a traditional closing. Also, seller may be able to regain possession if the buyer is unable to secure take-out financing. Buyer is able to purchase a home without a traditional mortgage.

Disadvantage: Seller may incur a lower credit rating if the buyer is not able to fully purchase the home. Seller may also be required to repossess the property if the buyer defaults. Buyer may not be able to find a new loan to satisfy terms of the private financing and may go into default.

Finally: this is not a common form of financing in traditional markets. It does come into play as a form of financing in investment properties and among those who have the means but insufficient credit score to obtain a traditional mortgage.

Back in the day when rate were very high. Not in the last 15-25 years!

Advantages/disadvantages can be learned in your course material.

Personally I have not encountered seller financing in my career. 

The seller is the bank.  Advantage - they receive monthly payments at typically a good (higher than normal) interest rate and retain the right to foreclose of the buyer doesn't pay.  For the buyer, they may get ownership of a property they may not qualify for with conventional financing options.

Never had to deal with seller financing.

In investment property, my buyers have taken over four property this year using Bond for Deed or owner financing. Everyone wins including the Realtor. 

If the buyer is solid and of course has been vetted and has put down a nice down payment 20-40-%, the house is security for the loan what better investment can there be especially if you add a reasonable interest rate. You can balloon payment it, have it optioned to continue. If buyer defaults, you get the property back. It is something worth considering to be sure...

Daniel Lloyd they were totally unheard of here until our oil boom and then they were popular. I warned everyone I could that it was essentially renting your home until these oil field people moved on and then they would walk away. That's exactly what happened in almost every case PLUS in many they trashed the house knowing they never intended to stay in the 1st place.

Daniel,

That has been covered by many here! A

Rarely. Only if  seller priced the home too high he can not sell.

I hope you pass the test soon. We have been seen you here for sometime now.

in a market when interest rates were very high and there was no mortgage, we had several sellers who held a mortgage on the property for a short number of years....

I've never encountered seller financing in my 15+ years in real estate. 

I wish you all the best with your real estate studies.

Common in land deals. 

Advantages, you often get a higher price, disadvantages you can get back a trashed property.

I have never done one in 28 years if that is an answer.

Advantage:

1. You come to realize why the banks have all the money
2. Notes are very portable. Seasoned notes very MARKETABLE
3. Solves problems with buyer qualification usually related to income not W-2 based

Disadvantage
1. They choose not to pay
2. If the seller has sold more than five houses in the past they, they are literally  screwed.
3. All profit forfeited to attorney to recover non-performing note.

They're not common enough to discuss. If it does happen, I'd enlist counsel - period!

having to cancel the contract because of non-payment

The interest could be a good investment

Some advangtages: seller earns interest on the loan; buyer does not have to qualify for a conventional mortgage; there may be a tax advantage for the seller who receives payment for the house over multiple tax years.

Common, they are not very.

Advantage for buyer quicker apprval, and less credit qualification, disadvantage higher interest rates.  They are fairly common for investors.

They happen but not often

Not common.

Not very common. It might help a buyer purchase a home when they need funds quickly or can't get a mortgage easily. Big risk - if the selller has a mortgage on the house already, he doesn't get to pay it down with funds from the buyer and the buyer has no real recourse if original mortgage holder (i.e. seller) stops paying the mortgage. 

Not common at all in our area.

Very common, especially on land sales. Advantage is your seller gets a nice little annuity as long as what they are selling has no mortgage, that they don't need to replace the property like in the case of primary and only home. Set up correctly, the risks can be minimized. Insurance notice with seller listed as mortgagor. No appraiser means none of the underwriting hoops to jump through or valuation hurdle to clear Daniel Lloyd ! Close immediately without 6 to 8 week or more delay. Bought one lake property with better loan rate than bank, missing all the closing costs except the promissory note, mortgage. No prepayment penalty and everyone was happy. 

I have no experience with seller financed mortgages in 25 years.

Will have to see what others are saying

You have many answers here.  I'll just add that is offers the ultimate flexibility to meet both seller and buyer needs, without all the red tape of traditional financing.

I have not seen any yet.

They don't eem to be too common anymore in my area.  Like not at all...

Never had it in my case. 

More rare than sightings of bigfoot!

Since the terrible, poorly thought-out and totally unfair tax reform of 2014-2015 by the previous administration, it killed the seller financing market and pissed off this investor market niche. I use to do a few a year, that benefited BOTH parties, but since then, none.