My wife and I purchased a property that was in a distressed situation one year ago from 8/31/07. In order for us to secure the property we decided to enter into a contract for deed. The contract for Deed was filed at the courthouse to show vested interest for one year on the property. My wife and I name are on title of the property. The lease agreement is owner financed at zero interest for the duration of year. We are now needing to refinance the contract for deed to pay off the Sellers. Since the mortgage world is in total choas. We are having difficulty finding a lender with the guidelines that will allow a refinance on a contract for deed. Any suggesstions?

We are investors and presently own several rental properties in addition to this property which has been our primary residence for the last year.

If you in fact have a Contract For Deed, you and your wife should not be on title to the property; nor is it a lease. FNMA reg 604.02 state: "When the proceeds ...are used to pay off...an installment land contract (CFD)...that was executed within the 12 months preceding the date of the loan application, we will consider the transaction to be a purchase money transaction... and the LTV will be based on the purchase price. When the installment land contract was executed more than 12 months ago... it is a limited cash out refinance transaction... and the LTV will be determined by the appraised value." You may have to put more cash into the transaction to make it work. Also you will have to provide a documented payment history for the debt.

Since you own other investment properties, you will have to satisfy the lender that this is a bona-fide Owner Occupied loan. You should be able to accomplish what you seek, provided that everything else (credit, income etc.) is in order.

I have an agreement for Deed contract. I bought the property for 140,000. I owe 116,000.00 at this time. I have poor credit around 580. I do make $4,400.00 a month. Can someone help me get a mortgage to pay the agreement for deed?