Contract For Deed LLC

10/07/2026

10/05/2026

Your lender told you to wait two years and come back. Sometimes that advice is exactly right. But sometimes you are ready right now. Here is what else might exist. 🏡

I'm Mike Arvold, co-founder of Contract for Deed LLC.

Let me be honest about something upfront: sometimes the wait-two-years advice is the right call. If your financial picture genuinely needs more time, the wait makes sense and is worth taking seriously.

But not always.

There is a real difference between not being ready to buy a home and not fitting a lender's guidelines yet. Those are two different situations and they do not always require the same answer.

WHEN YOU MAY NOT NEED TO WAIT

If you have the income to sustain a mortgage payment, a down payment saved and ready, and the genuine ability to afford the home you want, you may be ready right now. The lender's required timeline and your actual financial readiness are not always the same thing.

THE BRIDGE

Contract for Deed LLC may be the bridge between where you are today and where you want to be in two years.

Contract for Deed is not a permanent financing solution. It is typically a two to five year arrangement at the end of which most buyers refinance into a traditional mortgage. That is the plan from day one.

So if a lender told you to wait two years, here is one way to think about it: you could buy the home today through Contract for Deed LLC, spend those same two years as an owner building equity inside the home you already have, and then refinance into the traditional mortgage when the time is right.

Same destination. Different path. No waiting.

We can't promise this works for every situation. But if you have the income, the down payment, and the ability to make the payments, a lender's waiting period is not necessarily the final word.

Give us a call. Let's look at whether we can be that bridge.

📞 (763) 639-9171
🌐 contractfordeedllc.com
📧 [email protected]
📍 Serving all of Minnesota & Wisconsin

Contract for Deed MN | Land Contract WI | Mortgage Alternative MN WI | Bridge Financing Home Buyer MN

10/02/2026

A bankruptcy doesn't automatically mean you can't buy a home in MN or WI. It tells us something happened. It doesn't tell us who you are today. Here's how we look at it. 🏡

I'm Eric Hermanson, co-founder of Contract for Deed LLC.

WHAT A BANKRUPTCY TELLS US

A bankruptcy tells us that something happened in your past. A business that didn't make it. A medical emergency. A stretch of financial difficulty that reached the point where a legal resolution was the right path forward.

It tells us about a chapter of your life. It does not tell us what you earn today, what you have saved, or whether you can genuinely afford a home right now.

We want to look at the full picture. Today. Not just what happened before.

FOR TRADITIONAL LENDERS — A HARD LINE

For conventional mortgage lenders, a bankruptcy typically means mandatory waiting periods and hard guidelines before an application is even considered. That's how the traditional system works, and that's okay. Those guidelines exist for real reasons.

But they leave a gap. That gap is exactly why Contract for Deed LLC exists.

WHO WE'RE HERE FOR

We're here for buyers who have a down payment, can genuinely afford the monthly payments, and have been through something in their past that doesn't fit the traditional box.

A bankruptcy in your history is not, by itself, the reason we say no. We look at where you are today your income, your savings, your ability to sustain the payments and we decide from there.

We can't promise a solution for every situation. But a bankruptcy alone will not close the conversation before we've seen the full picture.

Fresh starts are our specialty.

If a bankruptcy has made you assume homeownership isn't available, give us a call.

📞 (763) 639-9171
🌐 contractfordeedllc.com
📧 [email protected]
📍 Serving all of Minnesota & Wisconsin

Contract for Deed MN | Land Contract WI | Buy Home After Bankruptcy MN | Alternative Financing After Bankruptcy MN WI

09/30/2026

Self-employed business owners in MN and WI — you've built something successful. Traditional mortgage guidelines weren't built for you. Here's what to know before you assume you can't qualify. 🏡

I'm Mike Arvold, co-founder of Contract for Deed LLC.

Here's the frustrating reality for a lot of successful business owners when they go to buy a home:

Traditional mortgage underwriting is built around W-2 income. A consistent salary. An employer-verified pay stub.

When you're self-employed, you've done what any smart business owner does — taken every legitimate deduction available. Depreciation. Business expenses. Write-offs that reduce your taxable income. All of it perfectly legal, all of it good financial management.

And then the bank looks at your tax return and sees a number that doesn't reflect what you actually earn, what you actually have, or what you can actually afford.

The bank sees your tax return. We see your full picture.

WHAT WE LOOK AT

If you're a self-employed business owner in MN or WI with a 20% down payment and the ability to afford the monthly payments — don't assume you can't qualify before you've called us.

We look at your actual financial picture. We want to understand your real income, your savings, your ability to sustain the payments — not just the number a tax return produces after every smart decision you've made running your business.

We can't promise a solution for every situation. But self-employment alone is not a reason for us to say no.

If a traditional lender has denied you because of how your income looks on paper — call me before you assume the door is closed.

📞 (763) 639-9171
🌐 contractfordeedllc.com
📧 [email protected]
📍 Serving all of Minnesota & Wisconsin

Contract for Deed MN | Land Contract WI | Self Employed Mortgage Alternative MN | Business Owner Home Buyer MN WI

09/28/2026

Real estate investors in MN and WI — the more properties you own, the more it scares a traditional bank. That's a backwards result. Here's where we come in. 🏡

I'm Eric Hermanson, co-founder of Contract for Deed LLC.

Here's a pattern experienced investors know well:

One or two properties — the bank is interested and cooperative.
Five properties — they want more documentation and start asking harder questions.
Ten properties — the complexity of your income streams, your entity structure, your depreciation, your debt-to-income across the portfolio creates a picture that traditional underwriting wasn't built to evaluate cleanly.

The investor who has done the most work and built the most wealth in real estate is often the one the bank is least excited to lend to next.

That's a genuinely backwards result. But it's the reality of how conventional mortgage underwriting works — it was built for simple, linear financial profiles. A seasoned investor's portfolio is rarely either.

WHERE CONTRACT FOR DEED LLC COMES IN

We are alternative financing. We evaluate deals individually — the property, the buyer's current financial situation, the ability to sustain the payments — rather than running a complex portfolio through a checklist that wasn't designed for it.

We can't do every deal, and I want to be upfront about that. But the complexity of a real estate investor's financial picture is not, by itself, a reason for us to pass before we've had a conversation.

We like complicated. A seasoned investor's portfolio is exactly the kind of complicated we're built for.

If you've hit a wall with traditional financing for your next property in MN or WI — give us a call. Let's look at what you've got.

📞 (763) 639-9171
🌐 contractfordeedllc.com
📧 [email protected]
📍 Serving all of Minnesota & Wisconsin

Contract for Deed MN | Land Contract WI | Real Estate Investor Financing MN | Alternative Financing Investment Portfolio MN WI

09/25/2026

Your credit score tells us your past. It doesn't tell us your story today. Here's what we actually look at and why we don't base our decision on a number. 🏡

I'm Mike Arvold, co-founder of Contract for Deed LLC.

A lot of buyers don't call us because they assume their credit score is the reason we'll say no before we've even talked.

I want to be direct: we do not base our decision on your credit score.

WHAT A CREDIT SCORE ACTUALLY IS

A credit score is a snapshot of your financial history: your payment patterns, your debt utilization, your credit age. It reflects your past. That's all.

It doesn't tell us what you earn today. It doesn't tell us what you have saved. It doesn't tell us whether you can actually afford the home you want. Life isn't simple — and a credit score doesn't know your life.

WHAT WE DO LOOK AT

We need to understand your debts, what you're carrying, and whether the payments on a home are genuinely something you can handle. That matters.

But here's what drives our decision:

Can you afford the monthly payments?
What does your income look like right now?
What do you have saved?
What do your actual finances look like today?

CREDIT IS PART OF THE PICTURE — NOT THE WHOLE PICTURE

A low credit score can reflect a difficult year, a medical event, a divorce, a period of self-employment. It can reflect something that happened to you, not who you are financially today.

We look at the real numbers. Not a summary of them.

Let's look at what you've got. There may be more to work with than you think.

📞 (763) 639-9171
🌐 contractfordeedllc.com
📧 [email protected]
📍 Serving all of Minnesota & Wisconsin

Contract for Deed MN | Land Contract WI | Low Credit Score Home Buying MN | Credit Score Not Deciding Factor | Alternative Financing MN WI

09/24/2026

Happy Birthday to our co-founder, Mike Arvold! 🎉

Another year older, but still closing deals like it's nobody's business. We hope your day is filled with cake, zero paperwork, and a whole lot of celebration.

Here's to another year of helping families find their way home! 🏡🎂

09/23/2026

High debt-to-income ratio? That's often an automatic "no" with a traditional lender — but not with us. 📊

Banks lean heavily on DTI formulas that don't leave much room for context. Student loans, medical debt, a car payment, supporting family — none of it matters to the formula, even if you handle your finances responsibly every month.

We take a different approach. Instead of stopping at a ratio, we look at your full financial picture — your income, your history, and your ability to make this work long-term.

Keep in mind, a down payment is still required — but a high DTI alone doesn't have to be the deciding factor it is with a traditional lender.

We can't promise a solution for every situation, but we'll always take the time to understand yours before saying no.

Feeling stuck because of your DTI? Let's talk about your options. Contact us today at contractfordeedllc.com

09/21/2026

Contract for Deed isn't just for entry-level homes or buyers with no money. Some of our clients have significant assets — and a financial picture too complicated for a traditional lender. Here's what that actually looks like. 🏡

I'm Eric Hermanson, co-founder of Contract for Deed LLC.

Let me address something we hear all the time — the assumption that Contract for Deed is only for people buying inexpensive homes or buyers who simply don't have any money.

That's not who our clients are.

WHO WE ACTUALLY WORK WITH

We regularly work with buyers who have real savings, significant assets, and are looking at high-value homes. These are financially capable people. By almost any common-sense measure of readiness, they look like buyers who should be able to walk into any bank and get approved.

But they can't. Not because they don't have money. Because they have a complicated financial picture.

WHAT "COMPLICATED" LOOKS LIKE

Self-employment income that doesn't show cleanly on a tax return, even though the money is absolutely there.

Multiple income streams that don't fit standard W-2 verification.

A credit event from years ago that hasn't fully aged off — even though their current financial situation is strong.

Timing — recently sold a business, restructured how they hold assets, recently relocated.

A financial life that's simply more sophisticated than a traditional underwriter's checklist was built to evaluate.

Traditional mortgage underwriting is built for simple, linear financial profiles. The more complex — and often the more successful — a buyer's financial picture is, the harder it can be to fit into a conventional box.

WE LIKE COMPLICATED.

Contract for Deed LLC is alternative financing. We were built for financial complexity that traditional lenders can't accommodate. We look at the full picture, across the price range, across property types, and across situations that don't fit a standard template.

If a traditional lender has said no and your financial picture is anything but simple — give us a call. Complicated is where we do our best work.

📞 (763) 639-9171
🌐 contractfordeedllc.com
📧 [email protected]
📍 Serving all of Minnesota & Wisconsin

Contract for Deed MN | Land Contract WI | Alternative Financing Complicated Financial Picture | High Asset Buyer MN WI

09/18/2026

Meet Kenny Shoquist — co-founder of Contract for Deed LLC. 👋

Kenny is a licensed CPA and serves as our compliance watchdog, making sure every deal we put together is structured the right way — for our buyers, our Realtor partners, and the business itself. He co-founded Contract for Deed LLC alongside Mike Arvold and Eric Hermanson, bringing a numbers-first, detail-oriented eye to every transaction.

Kenny's role means you can trust that when we say "we'll explore every option," it's backed by someone who's checking the fine print every step of the way.

Want to see if we may be able to help you or your clients? Contact us today at contractfordeedllc.com