Frequently Asked Questions

A: First, we are excited to help you buy a house. We believe there is no reason why anyone shouldn’t be able to buy a house regardless of credit. You are going to spend the money for housing and so there is no reason why you shouldn’t be investing that money into something that you own. We can walk you through each step of the way.

1. The first step is to become a “Tu Propia Casa Member”.

2. Search for the house that you want and

3. Third, contact a “Tu Propia Casa Agent”.

It’s that simple.

A: Becoming a member gives you auto updates when homes become available via email. You also get first access to see the homes when they become available online. MEMBERS get first access (VIP Access) to view homes that come on to the market before other non-members. Non-members see the homes after members. Also, being a member must happen before actually purchasing a home. It is part of the administrative fees that are paid.

A: MAKING IT EASY IS OUR GOAL! YOU DON’T HAVE TO QUALIFY WITH A BANK because you get Owner-Financed (get a home loan) by the home owner of which in most cases is us, Tu Propia Casa. The home owner is the Seller in these cases and you are the Buyer. The Seller finances (Owner-Finances) the home to you the Buyer. After the transaction, you will be 100% owner. The Warranty Deed, which is the title (similar to a car title) is recorded with the County Courthouse along with the Deed of Trust (Mortgage). Public records will show the home owned by YOU.

Financing the home with us is a simple process. We don’t use the credit score as a means to finance the house. The home seller carries the note and therefore, the traditional obstacles that you would normally face with a bank are not there. Going through the Owner-Financing process is easy and quick. You can choose to refinance your loan at any time with the traditional bank once you re-establish your credit and if and when you want to re-finance.

If you have gone through a divorce, foreclosure, auto repo, or any other hard times that has crashed your credit score, there is no need to worry. We can still help you purchase the home you want while you re-build your credit.

If you do not have certain documents that you need to purchase a home, we can help you with the resources to obtain those documents.

YOU CAN QUALIFY! If you can afford the monthly payments and have a reasonable down payment, there is no reason why we can’t help you achieve your dream of buying a house or coming back from a bad credit situation.

In some cases, own your home in less than 2 weeks. No hassle ownership is the goal.

A: YES! It will belong to you! With the traditional bank financing, you wouldn’t be able to BUT with us, you can.

A: Yes! With conventional lenders, you can’t own a home without good credit, but you can with us.

If you’re curious to know how, there are 2 main documents when buying a home: 1) The General Warranty Deed and 2) the Deed of Trust. The General Warranty Deed is the piece of paper that gives you ownership of a home, so your name appears in the county courthouse and tax records as the owner of the home and allows you to take the tax write-offs on the home from Day One! The Deed of Trust is the “loan instrument” used in Texas (a.k.a. Mortgage), which together with a Real Estate Lien Note, clearly outlines the dollar amount of your home loan and other terms.

All home sales involve the General Warranty Deed transferring from the seller’s name to the buyer’s name as the new owner. And most traditional home sales require the buyer to get their own bank loan, which means the Deed of Trust and the Lien Note are given from the buyer’s new lender/bank to the buyer. But the difference with seller-financing (a.k.a. owner-financing) is that the attorney-drafted Deed of Trust and Lien Note are granted from the seller’s name (instead of from a bank) acting as the lender to the buyer, which is why we advertise “No banks needed.” So BOTH the Warranty Deed (the ownership) and the loan are in your name, but you just didn’t have to qualify for the loan through a bank!

We owner finance you the home today until sometime in the future when you are able to qualify for your own bank financing, which gives you the opportunity to refinance your owner-financed mortgage to potentially obtain a lower interest rate. Our buyers love it because they can finally own a home without having to have perfect credit, and it gives them time clean up past credit problems, time to sell another home, and try out the neighborhood

A: These homes are all different types and sorts. Acquisition of homes is what Tu Propia Casa specializes in. Tu Propia Casa will purchase all types of homes from different sources but mostly from other individuals selling their own home. Once we acquire the home by purchasing it, we then list it for you to buy. Most homes are great looking homes and are ready to move into. Other homes require remodeling and then are listed for you to buy.

A: In general, the “1% Rule” applies when wanting to have a guestimate. So 1% of the sale price is a good rule of thumb to go by when estimating the monthly payment. Owning a home usually costs more than renting but most people enjoy the benefits of owning a home at a slightly higher cost. It is possible to get a lower payment if you put more money down when initially buying the home. Putting more than 5 to 10% down will lower you monthly payment.

An easy calculation method: To see what price of a home you should be looking for, you can multiply the monthly payment that you would like to be paying by 100. When you do this, you can see what the house price is that you should be looking for. If you want a more expensive house than what your calculation shows, then put a bigger down payment on the home to lower the price into your affordable range. If you need help calculating what size house and how expensive of a house you need, please contact us to speak with an Agent.

Here is an example of how to calculate how much the house will cost for the amount of money that you would like to pay per month on a mortgage:

Desired Monthly Payment X Multiplier = Amount of the house should be selling for or anything less.

$ 950.00 / mo X 100 = $ 95,000

$ 700.00/ mo X 100 = $ 70,000

$1,100.00/ mo X 100 = $110,000

A: Yes, a down payment is needed and how much depends on the cost of the home. The amount is different for every home. It usually goes on a percentage basis of the cost of the home. The more of a down payment that is left, the lower the monthly payment will be.

A: If you have good credit, it is possible to purchase a home with very little down payment through traditional bank financing. If you credit is not good or if you do not have the appropriate legal documents that a bank requires, Owner-Financing with a down payment is the only way to purchase a home.

A: Buying a home with Owner-Financing is much easier than traditional bank financing. Therefore, it is not necessary to choose a home 3 to 4 months before you want to move. The time to start looking would be 2 to 6 weeks at most before you want to move. It is however a good idea to know what neighborhood you would like to move into or at least the general area that works for you.

A: Putting a deposit down on a home is the only way to hold a home when doing Owner-Financing. The deposit amount can vary from home to home. Whenever you choose a home that you like, contact one of our Agents and he or she can help you and answer any deposit questions.

A: Yes, we can. If you let us know what you are looking for, we can contact you as soon as a home that fits your needs is available. Also, become a member ASAP so that you can see all of the homes that we list first. Our “Tu Propia Casa Members” get to see the new homes that come out first. Become a member now. Homes sale fast and so it’s important that you keep looking on our web site for a home that works for you.

A: There are multiple benefits to Owner-Financing a home.

1. Owner-Financing is much faster. You can close and be moved in within 1-week to 4-weeks.

2. No bank qualifying needed.

3. No credit checks unless you are shooting for a lower interest rate.

4. Simple Application Process, instead of filling out layers of forms.

5. Major incidents on your credit don’t prohibit you from buying a house.

6. We have EXPERT AGENTS that will help you all the way through the process

7. We speak both Spanish and English.

A: Owner-Financing requires the owner to carry the note. This means that they do not get all of their money at one time from a bank. Therefore, there is less desire to do Owner-Financing deals for most people. In addition, if the buyer defaults or does not pay the note, then the seller is responsible for carrying the taxes, insurance, and debt. Again, this is a challenge for most and most would rather not deal with this type of special financing. HOWEVER, Tu Propia Casa specializes in Owner-Finance deals which is really good for you and those people who have “less than perfect credit” or bad credit.

A: Absolutely! If there is a home that you like and the owner is willing to sell at a price that meets our pricing structure, we can definitely buy the house and Owner-Finance it to you. Contact one of our Agents let them know of the house that you are looking at and give him or her the contact information for the person selling the house and Tu Propia Casa will contact them to buy the house.