GoZone Educational Tele-Seminar Series
Wendy Patton

Wendy Patton began her real estate investing career over 20 years ago specializing in little or no money down techniques. Her best-selling book "Investing in Lease Options and Subject-To's" can be found in bookstores nationwide.

started investing in real estate at the age of 21 years old. Like most young adults I was single, broke, thinking “corporate America” was my only future. I graduated from college, was hired for that corporate America dream job and was $20,000 in debt. Soon, I found Corporate America wasn’t the golden path to what I wanted.

When I began investing in real estate, I didn’t fully understand my financing options, so I started purchasing investment properties on credit cards. At that time I didn’t know of any better way to invest. I did not have the assistance or availability of coaches and instructors.

By the time I was in my early 20’s, I had $200,000+ on my credit cards! About this time, I got married and had twins all within a very short time span. Over the next few years, I accumulated more properties while working my full time position in the corporate world. I even had to take my young twins with me when I was looking at potential investments.

Eventually, I was a single mother of my twins. I needed to make a living and make it fast. I had to pay off the over $200,000 of debt by myself. The investing techniques I came to specialize in involved buying properties with little or no money down – as I didn’t have much money to my name at the time. They are called “lease with option to buy” and “buying subject to.”

A What?
A lease with an option to buy involves leasing a home from a seller who might not be able to sell it or rent it otherwise. It allows the investor to rent it and then buy it, without having to use money or credit. I was able to do this over and over again. I have bought and sold over 600 lease option homes. The technique of lease with option to buy is what helped me get going “full steam ahead” in the real estate business.

Investing using the subject to technique involves having the seller sign the deed of their home over to the buyer “subject to” the existing mortgage. The seller keeps the mortgage in their name, but the buyer/investor owns the home and is responsible for the payments of the mortgage. The investor does not have to qualify for a new mortgage using this method. The technique of subject to allows the seller to move on and get out from underneath their payments and the investor the ability to buy many homes without using his or her own cash or credit.

Both methods, when done properly, should result in a win/win situation for the buyer and seller. I only teach my students how to use these two methods in a fair and ethical manner. When all parties are treated fairly everyone wins and things work out for the best. I truly believe this is the only way to invest in real estate!

What’s Next?
I have three published books – Remarkable Women, Investing in Real Estate with Lease Options and Subject To Deals and How to Make Hard Cash in a Soft Real Estate Market. The second and third book can be found in books stores all across the country and on my website bookstore. Book number 3 just came out and it covers investing in real estate in a soft real estate environment. It also discussed how to find the next “Emerging Market”. Keep an eye out for it!

Wendy has significant investments in numerous GoZone Areas and is an expert on emerging markets, Pre Construction Invesiting and GoZone Strategies