27 Ways To Buy Multi-Family Properties With No Money Down: A Must-Read Guide to Creative Financing
Creative financing is buying a property without leaning on a bank loan and a large down payment of your own, using tools like seller financing, private money, and partnerships. Dave Lindahl’s book “27 Ways To Buy Multi-Family Properties With NO MONEY DOWN” is still the best single place I know to learn those tools, which is why I keep sending people back to it.
The upfront cost of buying a multifamily property is the barrier that stops most people before they start. Lindahl’s book takes that barrier apart, and in this post I walk through the ideas from it I come back to most.
Understanding the Book
Dave Lindahl is a real estate operator and educator, and in “27 Ways To Buy Multi-Family Properties With NO MONEY DOWN” he shares what he learned acquiring multifamily properties. The book is a practical guide to strategies that let a buyer acquire a multifamily property without a large down payment.
Exploring the Strategies
The book outlines 27 different methods for buying multifamily property with little or no money down. Lindahl’s point is that a traditional bank loan is not the only option. He walks through creative financing techniques such as seller financing, private money lenders, partnerships, and the negotiation skills that let you structure a deal without relying on your own funds.
He puts a lot of weight on finding motivated sellers and understanding what they actually need. When you build a real relationship and negotiate terms that work for both sides, you can create a deal that serves everyone involved. The strategies in the book give you the tools to think outside the box when money is the obstacle.
Beyond the Purchase
What I value most in the book is how it shows a deal being structured without a large amount of your own cash in it. It also goes past the acquisition. Lindahl covers property evaluation, due diligence, and property management, so the book is about operating what you buy, not only buying it.
How I Use This Today
Seller financing is the strategy from this book I have written about in the most depth since, from the other side of the table, in Seller Financing: How to Sell the Asset but Keep the Income. Reading the two together shows the same deal from the buyer’s seat and the seller’s.
Read the Book
Read “27 Ways To Buy Multi-Family Properties With NO MONEY DOWN” by Dave Lindahl here: the book on SlideShare.
Buying multifamily property is not limited to the cash you have on hand. With the right strategies and the right mindset, the barrier at the front of the deal gets a lot smaller.
A note from 2025: I still point people to this article as the best way to learn about creative financing strategies.
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