House hunting - what would you take in this case?

[Nbadan]

Out of pocket money is of concern....it's not that simple

It depends on the appraisal. If it appraises high enough, banks will lend you more money than you are paying for the condo. This is how those late-night real estate scams work, you know, 'I just bought this condo, and walked away with $20,000!!'

[SpursWoman]

That's kind of the way I just paid for my new a/c & duct work....it's called a home equity loan, basically, or a refinance/finance with cash out. It's not a scam, you still have to pay the mortgage.

But your mortgage payment is going to be a lot higher, too. So doing something like that would depend on your comfort level, and assuming that someone is selling their home that far under market value, because you can't borrow against 100% of your equity.