Send us Fan Mail What if going to the bank wasn’t the only path to owning your home? We've been told to budget harder, cut back, and wait for someone with a fancy title to approve us. Meanwhile, millions of homes are owned free and clear by people who would happily let you pay them directly. Let's talk about it. Melissa Dorman went from dumpster diving in their twenties to building a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio in their thirties. By combining traditional bank loans with creative seller financing, they acquired 34 rental units in just five years. A former social worker turned financial activist, Mel shows that wealth doesn’t have to flow through Wall Street to grow. As the founder of the Seller Financing Academy and author of Bank on Your Neighbor, Mel teaches everyday people how to use conventional tools and community-based financing strategies to buy property, build equity, and keep wealth circulating locally instead of allowing it to be siphoned upward to billionaires. Their TEDx Talk on creative finance became an Editor’s Pick and has reached hundreds of thousands of viewers hungry for an alternative to the corporate grind. How does seller financing work? Seller financing is when you pay the owner of a home directly instead of going through a bank like Wells Fargo or Chase. Mel explains that 4 out of 10 homes in America are owned free and clear, which means those owners can take monthly payments from a buyer, just like selling a used car to a neighbor on an installment plan. It helps older owners retire, can save them a lot on taxes, and turns landlords into lenders. How can you buy a house if the bank says no? You go straight to the seller. Mel shares that about 50% of people who qualified for a bank loan in 2019 no longer qualify, often because banks removed the loan products most people used. Renters with years of on time payments, people who just changed careers, and others the bank algorithm rejects can still buy by building a direct relationship with a seller. How do you buy property with little money down? Negotiate around the seller's real risk, not the bank's 20% rule. Mel's first seller wanted $75,000 down and she had about $8,000. She asked what it would cost him to foreclose on her ($15,000) and made that the down payment. She negotiated two months of delayed payments, leased up the vacant units, and was only $500 out of pocket on a triplex that cash flowed day one. What paperwork do you need for a seller financed deal? It's simpler than most people think. Mel says it's about a five page document made up of two pieces: a promissory note, which works like an IOU laying out the payment, interest rate, and term, and a deed of trust, which attaches the loan to the property. Unlike a bank loan, you can sometimes move that good debt to another property you own. Why doesn't budgeting build wealth for women? Because budgeting alone is about cutting back, not growing. Mel explains that women are taught to budget and play it small, while men are taught to scale, build businesses, and invest. When all your focus is on cutting things away, you never think about using leverage to scale, and that gap is a big part of why more men hold wealth. How do you get the confidence to start investing in real estate? Start with who you're becoming before you take action. Mel's advice is to build your self-concept first (a leader, a breadwinner, someone responsible, strong, and resilient) instead of jumping into hustle mode from a place of scarcity. That belief is what keeps you going when things get scary, so you step up instead of giving up. Chapters 00:00 Meet Mel, the social worker whose family crisis changed everything 02:15 Trader Joe's dumpster dinners, 2009, and questioning the 40/40/401k 05:45 How the patriarchy keeps women small (and why budgeting won't make you rich) 08:45 Love letters to your neighbor and seller financing 101 12:15 The $500 triplex that now pays $3,800 a month 17:45 Why you have to become her before you do the deal 19:45 Keeping money local, the Bank It Forward model, and what financial freedom really means We would love to hear what you thought of this episode, any questions it sparked, what resonated most, or any topics you would love us to cover next. Click here to send us a message! Join us for the next Money Talks, “The Real Estate Wealth Strategy” Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! Follow & connect with Mel Dorman: Seller Finance AcademyInstagram: @mel_dormanLinkedInSeller Finance Academy on Facebook Want to take this conversation one step further? Join us for our next Money Talks, a free 30 minute live session where we’ll dig into a question we hear all the time from women business owners: Budgeting for Businesses to Offer Benefits. Click here to register for FREE and bring your questions! Follow & connect with us! Website Facebook PageFacebook groupInstagramTikTokLinkedInYouTubeReddit Resources Have questions? Click this to check out our expert Q&A for tips from industry experts, tailored to help women address their most common...
