Other assets besides cash can be used as an option payment. Personal property (cars, trucks, equipment, collectibles), equity resources, and even services can work just as well.

Technique No. 48 Sale Option Back

What if a property owner needs to sell a piece of property now in order to raise capital but wishes he could eventually have it back to take advantage of predicted appreciation and future growth? What can be done for him? The Sale Option Back technique is cut to order: the seller disposes of his property at a moderate discount but with the option to buy it back within a specific time frame at a price fixed now. Whether or not the option is exercised, the buyer wins: and the seller has the choice of getting his property back if future conditions develop as planned.

Technique No. 49 The Earnest Money Option

Every Earnest Money Agreement is an option. For a short period of time, the potential buyer has control of the disposition of the property. If he fails to follow through as agreed, he loses the earnest money (option payment) as liquidated damages. Meanwhile, if he has executed the offer to purchase in his own name with the additional phrase And/Or Assigns, he can choose to sell his interest in the property to whomever he will. If he has struck a good bargain, it is possible the assignment of the earnest money rights to some other investor could be very profitable.

Technique No. 50 Lease With An Option To Purchase

This is the most common form of the option. Buyers who don’t have enough cash for a down payment or who wish to build up a portfolio of properties using this technique can use their available funds as option money and then maneuver for purchase later on. Meanwhile, if monthly payments have been carefully structured, the buyer (option holder) might be able to pick up a little extra cash on sublease payments.

There are numerous examples of this technique, which is used frequently by investors. For example, the buyer of a 14-plex in Bremerton, Washington, initiated his program recently with a six-month lease option. The reason? He did not yet have the down payment funds, and besides, the seller needed to hold the property a little longer to qualify for long-term capital gains. In a Nashville, Tennessee, purchase, a homebuyer we know picked up an estate