When I bought my house 5 years ago I assumed the mortgage. I think times have changed due to some of the reasons outlined above, but the advantages at the time were:
- Seller doesn't face a penalty for closing the mortgage early. Most times you can negotiate that with your bank/broker; but in my case the house I bought was being sold due to divorce.
- Seller being on the hook for a year was a good thing. I bought my house for under $200K and within a year it was worth $240K. 11 months later the seller asked one of my neighbours how I was doing- he wanted me to default
- Assumable does open it to more buyers. One example I know of is friends buying a place to rent it out; so they could over extend themselves and hope the place doesn't sit vacant for too long.
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