Episode Details

Is there still opportunity in today’s real estate market for agents and investors? According to Chris Prefontaine, founder of Smart Real Estate Coach and a 4 time best selling author, the answer is yes, but the opportunity looks different than it used to. Through strategies like owner financing, lease purchases, and subject-to deals, agents and investors can structure deals that create three separate paydays: cash up front, monthly cash flow, and profit at the back end. Millions of homeowners own their properties free and clear and many are open to creative terms instead of demanding all cash. The market does not have a deal problem. It has a deal structure problem, and the agents who learn to solve that problem are the ones building lasting wealth instead of one time commission checks. There’s No Deal Problem. There’s a Deal Structure Problem. Every year, most real estate agents walk past several deals that could change their financial life. Not because the deals aren’t good. Because the agent doesn’t see themselves as the buyer. They see a seller who needs a discount, can’t qualify for a traditional sale, or has a property that doesn’t fit the typical buyer pool. So they either pass on the lead entirely or hand it off to an investor for a referral fee. Chris Prefontaine has spent decades showing agents and investors a different way to look at those situations. And in this episode, he makes the case that the opportunity in today’s market might be bigger than ever, if you know how to structure the deal. Who Is Chris Prefontaine? Chris Prefontaine is the Chairman and Founder of Smart Real Estate Coach, a four time best selling author, a former Forbes Business Council member, and a three time Inc. 5000 honoree for fastest growing companies. He has helped students across North America complete hundreds of creative real estate transactions. And he has done it while navigating the 2008 housing crash, 9/11, COVID, and a near tragic family event. His business was built to survive any market, because it had to. Most Agents Are Sitting on Deals They’ll Never See Again Here’s the uncomfortable truth Chris opens with. Most agents come across multiple investment-worthy opportunities every single year. A seller who can’t get their price through a traditional sale. A property that needs work nobody wants to finance. A free and clear home owned by someone who doesn’t need a lump sum, they need monthly income. These situations get passed over constantly. Not because they’re bad deals. Because the agent was trained to think like a salesperson, not a principal. Chris’s challenge is simple. What if you took some of those deals down yourself? Why Creative Financing Is More Relevant Than Ever There’s a perception that creative financing, things like owner financing and subject-to deals, are fringe strategies. Something you’d only see in a late night infomercial. Chris makes the case that the opposite is true right now. With interest rates where they are, more sellers and more agents are open to creative solutions than at almost any point in recent memory. Millions of homeowners across the country own their properties completely free and clear. No mortgage. No bank to satisfy. And a meaningful number of them don’t need all their equity in cash today. They need income, certainty, or a buyer who will take care of the property they spent decades in. That is an enormous, largely untapped pool of opportunity. Owner Financing: A Win for Both Sides Owner financing means the seller acts as the bank. Instead of the buyer getting a traditional mortgage, they make payments directly to the seller under agreed terms. Chris breaks down why this can be a genuine win-win. The seller can often get closer to their asking price than they would in a discounted cash sale, while receiving steady income over time, sometimes with favorable tax treatment. The buyer gets terms that don’t depend on a bank’s approval process, which matters enormously when rates or lending