Buyers are easy to find. First, decide who the target buyers are. I target low-income families and single mothers. It is usually obvious which families are struggling, and which one's have priorities misplaced. For instance, a lady drove up in a brand new Lexus, stated that she was a single mother, and would I build a house for her. Had she driven up in a beaten-up Oldsmobile, billowing smoke, I might have listened to her story. Instead, in my mind, she represented what is wrong with our culture.

The lady behind the counter working the night shift at the local convenience store, jangled about meeting her children's needs, and who still has the ability to smile - those are the people I want to build for. Usually what they are paying in rent is more than what a monthly mortgage payment would be. The only thing blocking them from the American Dream is a down payment, and the complications of arranging financing. They simply have no idea how to go about the process. That's where I come in. I can help.

Offering to build a house for no down payment, with monthly payments equal to or less than what a family is now paying in rent, yields a fat waiting list. If I should ever run short of buyers, a quick check with Habitat for Humanity, or a local church, would yield countless families who need homes. While it is made absolutely clear that they have no choice as to location or design, they can specify how many bedrooms and baths. Standard equipment in these houses consists of basic appliances - stove, refrigerator, washer and dryer, furnace, air conditioner, and ceiling fans. If the family has an exorbitant number of children, I consider a dishwasher. Financing is explained (see section on financing), and it is further explained that if they don't like the house, they don't have to buy it. They will simply go to the end of the list. There is no contract, and no credit check. My waiting list is more than I can accommodate efficiently.

After realizing my first house, many people began approaching me - perhaps one a month - wanting me to build their houses, or do additions or remodeling. Here is where you need to decide what you will do. Most of these people have plenty of money for worry-free down payments and financing. But also most people have their own ideas of what a dream house is - which is typically not what my resources or strategies would allow. Further, for me, it would be a breach of trust to build middle-class and above housing with donated materials targeted for low-income housing. After all, the design of each of my houses grows out of the materials that are available to me. While that yields a wide range of options, it typically does not include tactics and strategies they have in mind. I always thank them, but decline, because such a direction erodes my freedom, and my low-income housing mission. Both of those things are absolutely fundamental in my approach.

However, the possibility always exists to leave the low-income-housing mission and fly into bigger ticket projects. This possibility is a very real one for someone wanting to get started in the building industry. Make a splash with interesting housing for low-income, and the buyers will eventually seek you out.

To get started, my wife and I took out a second mortgage on our own home. That provided the capital for the first house. Unless you are an established customer with a bank, perhaps as a builder, very few bankers will provide interim money for building a house for low-income families, from trash. Typically, bankers don’t recognize that as a standard profit venue. New ideas must deal with the present reality of banking. But that is how we started. There are other ways. Acquire a plot of land—banks will loan money on land. Then on the weekends build the house. It may take awhile, but know that you are capitalizing your eventual after-market house business.

If the families that I build for have any credit at all, it's bad credit. So I don't check their credit. I check their commitment to their family. Very few families don't feel the fever of owning a home. The credit risk is mitigated by the fever they have to own a home, especially if their mortgage, taxes and insurance equal what they are now paying in rent, with no down payment.

Early in the process, I ask a family if they would be interested in buying a house, provided there is no down payment, or closing cost and the monthly payment would be equal to what they are now paying in rent. Who would say no?

Generally, the worst credit histories can be brought back to a healthy standing with three years' good credit record. When I carry the note, I charge 10% interest, since I am not a bank. I handle it as a lease, with an option to buy at the appraised value of the house when they first move in, and the amounts paid toward the principle before they exercise the option are applied to the price of the house when they do exercise the option. It is pretty much like renting for the first three years, with a partial refund when they exercise the option to buy. The family must exercise its option to buy within three years' time. Bankers tell me that if a family makes timely payments on the lease, keeps utility payments in good standing, and makes a disciplined effort to keep financially stable, then most families would be able to qualify for institutional financing after three years.

By handling the note in this fashion, title to the property is not transferred until they exercise the option to buy. This means the property can be used as collateral with a bank for interim financing for the next project. Further, after three years' time, a down payment becomes less of an issue, because they have been paying toward the principle over three years, which becomes part of a down payment that a bank would require. Additionally, the property may have appreciated slightly over three years. These two things make in-roads into a down payment. If not, the balance of the down payment can be handled as a second lien. This strategy also defers buyer's closing costs until the family is in a stronger position to manage them. An escrow account could be set up, deposits to which are included in their monthly payment.

If the family drops the ball on the agreement, the lease with an option to buy is void, and it simply is as though they are renting the building. Clemency on this point is something the builder will have to decide. But if it is explained to the family what the stakes are, that they have the possibility of a fresh beginning, they make an effort to change. The family has a whopping opportunity, and you have protection of your investment.