A retiring landlord owns a B-plus duplex free and clear, and he's tired. To move it in a slow market without taking the full tax hit, he offers you something a bank never would: he'll carry a hundred thousand dollars of the price himself, at five percent. Suddenly a three-hundred-forty-thousand-dollar building is yours for forty grand down — at break-even cash flow.

Then you read the fine print on his carry. It's interest-only, with a balloon due in three years. In month thirty-six, the whole hundred thousand comes due in one payment — and to make it, you'll have to refinance into whatever rate and whatever appraisal the market hands you in 2029.

In this episode of the 5-Minute PRIME Podcast, host Martin Maxwell walks all three doors on a real seller-financing decision — and shows why the deciding factor isn't the rate, it's the fuse.

Tune in to learn:

• The Balloon Bet — why a seller second is a bridge, not a foundation, and how a three-year balloon turns a great entry into a refinance you don't control.
• The Fuse-Length Negotiation — the one term that's cheapest to ask for and most expensive to live without.
• The Three Confirms — the lender's permission, the free-and-clear check, and the consumer-rule line that decides whether your carry is clean or a landmine.

Have you ever taken seller financing — or walked from a deal because the terms scared you? Would you take a building you couldn't refinance today on the bet that you can in three years?

Subscribe now so you never take a fuse you can't defuse.

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