http://knowinterest.com/livinghalal Disclaimer: Consult a professional before you attempt to use the materials presented. Islamic Finance no riba, interest, halal, money, finance, installments, mortgage, bank, loan, islam, muslim, islamic finance, economy, housing, home, Realtor, broker, real estate http://halfdate.com/promo.html http://halalbucks.com http://livinghalal.com wa alaikum assalaam, That is right, it is called a due on sales clause. If the seller DOES NOT have a due on sales clause (most of them do), then the seller can sale the house and the bank does not require that they are paid off. The seller can keep making payments to them and you can make payments to the seller. This is not enough though, because if the seller defaults, then the bank takes the house from you. What you need is a contract that states that you have full rights to the ownership of the house and your contract precedes all other contracts and even if the sellers default, that doesn't matter because your contract is between you and the sellers, not you the sellers and the bank. Since most mortgages have a due on sales clause, this scenario doesn't work. What we did was demand our contract be secure from the bank so the sellers refinanced their mortgage so there was no due on sales clause and we were able to buy the house from the sellers with no third party involved (i.e. the bank). If the sellers default on their loan, the house has nothing to do with it. We have a secured interest in the house and our contract precedes all other contracts. So why would a seller ever agree to this? Many reasons: you (the buyer) are offering a monthly payment higher than the seller's monthly payment to the bank, the seller has bought another house and can't afford multiple payments, the seller is fearing foreclosure on their house, the seller is fearing bankruptcy, the economy is in a recession and the seller needs extra cash, the supply is higher than the demand in the real estate market and the seller is unable to sell or rent their home, etc. As for people who own their homes outright, there aren't very many people out there like that. If they even own their homes, the have taken out one or more loans on the equity of the house or on other items and can't afford all of the payments (the stats on how many people stay in a home for more than 5 years is very small). We a surprisingly high response when we first presented our method to for sale by owners and realtors. We had many houses to choose from when we were looking to buy a house interest free. We are buying our house with relatively high monthly payments over 5 years, so it becomes more attractive to all sellers. In the end, all I can say is, it doesn't hurt to try, right? Wa Allaahu 'Alam