When a plain sale doesn't fit: the tools Upstate investors actually use
Most property changes hands one way: a buyer, a bank, a closing. When that doesn't work — the numbers don't pencil, the tax bill is too big, the buyer can't get a loan — there is a second set of tools. None of them are new. All of them are traded every month in a room in Greenville.
Seller financing
The seller becomes the bank: the buyer pays over time, the seller holds a note secured by the property. It suits a seller who wants income rather than a lump sum (and the tax bill that comes with it), and a buyer who can pay but can't satisfy a lender today. The terms — rate, payment, balloon, position — are the whole negotiation.
Notes as an asset
Once a note exists it can be sold, traded, or used as the down payment on something else. Paper is invisible to the retail market and obvious to a room that trades in it. A holder who needs cash sells at a discount; a buyer who wants yield without tenants buys the stream.
Options
A little money now for the right to buy later at a price agreed today. The owner keeps the property and its income; the option holder gets time — to get a rezoning, find a partner, or let a 1031 clock line up. If the deal doesn't come together, the owner keeps the option money and the property.
Exchanges, partial and multi-party
Trading equity for equity, sometimes with cash or a note to balance the legs. A straight two-party swap is rare; three- and four-party chains are how most of them close, each leg a normal transaction with its own closing. Whether a leg qualifies for tax deferral is a question for your CPA, asked before anyone signs.
Cash as a leg
Cash is easy to spend and hard to place well. In a room it becomes a piece that makes other deals work: the balancing payment in a three-way, the first-position loan that lets a seller carry the rest, the down payment that turns an option into a closing.
Where these get traded
Every one of these tools needs the other party — someone who wants income when you want cash, or land when you want out of management. That is what an equity marketing session is: owners, cash and paper in one room, with the professionals who structure the legs. Come and listen before you bring anything.
Questions people ask
- Can I sell a note I'm holding?
- Yes. Notes are one of the six things members put on the board. A buyer of paper asks six questions — face, rate, payment, balloon, position and whether the payor is current — and prices from there. Bring those and you'll get straight answers.
- What's an option, in plain terms?
- A small payment now for the right to buy at an agreed price later. The owner keeps the property and the income in the meantime; the buyer gets time to line up money, zoning or a partner. Rooms like GEMS use them constantly to hold a deal together.
- Is any of this advice?
- No. This page explains vocabulary; the room sketches structures; your attorney, CPA and lender decide what's sound and close it. Nothing here or in a session is a recommendation for your situation.
- Where does this happen?
- First Thursday of the month, 9 AM to noon, at Trailblazer Brokerage, 3795 E North St, Greenville.
Pull up a chair at the next session
Your first 2 sessions are free — no invitation needed. Tell us you're coming and a member will send the details. Bring a deal to present, or just sit in and see how the room works.
First 2 sessions free · No invitation needed · Bring a deal or just listen