When just starting out, new real estate investors often sit down with a pen and paper and strategize for success. Filled with boundless optimism, they jumped into action, convinced that they are racing toward amazing riches and unlimited income potential. They barely catch up when they run into the brick wall of reality that is their banker.

Has this happened to you?

If you haven’t already, chances are you will. Bankers are forever married to the proposition that the “correct” way to buy property is to put down 20% and finance the remaining 80% over a period of 20 or 30 years. Any deviation from the norm causes your banker to clutch his chest and collapse to the ground.

In most cases, banks are bastions of rigid and inflexible conventions. Bankers like to control all aspects of the financial conversation. It all involves giving in to his power and playing his game. If your credit score isn’t what they think it should be, or if your debt-to-income ratio is out of line with what they’re used to, or if you don’t set aside as much money in cash reserves as they think you should, your loan has no chance of being approved.

Contrary to what your banker would have you believe, there are dozens of ways to buy real estate that don’t involve you. If he considers himself a traditionalist, he can continue to buy real estate in the conventional way. However, if he does that, he will severely reduce his earning potential and miss out on a world of investment opportunities. Over the course of an investment run, he could lose millions of dollars in lost profits. Instead, go ahead and embrace the wonderful world of creative finance.

By buying a property creatively, you can literally close more deals. The reason is simple: people willing to think outside the box can solve problems and create viable solutions that are beneficial to both the buyer and seller of residential real estate. Here are just some of the ways you can buy property without a bank:

“The Bird Dog Method: This is perhaps the most rudimentary form of real estate investing on the face of the earth. You locate an available property, run some numbers, and take it to an experienced investor who will then purchase the property directly from the seller. In exchange for locating it, you will receive a small search fee.

“Wholesale: A step up from bird tracking, wholesale involves placing a property under contract and selling its contract position to an investor who is interested in rehabbing the property or implementing a buy-and-hold strategy. Because you are actually putting the property under contract, you should be willing and able to close on the property yourself if you cannot locate another investor to sell your property to.

“Land Leases aka Deed Contract – One of the oldest creative financing techniques on the face of the earth, this technique involves signing an agreement to make payments directly to the owner until the property is paid for or Get other financing.

“Lease Options: This technique does not transfer ownership of the property, but rather control. In exchange for an option fee (cash or something of value), the owner will agree to a future sales price today and give you a fixed period of time to exercise your option.You will be required to make monthly lease payments and if you do not exercise your purchase option on or before the lease expiration date, you will be required to turn over custody of the property to the owner and you will lose your option fee.

“Seller Financing – This can be any or a combination of investment techniques that involve the property owner acting as the bank. You may or may not be required to pay interest depending on the terms you set.

“Subject To — This is a creative financing technique often used when a seller has existing financing that is going to be maintained. With this technique, you agree to purchase the property subject to existing financing. Typically, you would your monthly payment to the property owner or an independent third party who would then send the payment to the lender and any excess money would go to the seller.

As you can see, these are just a few of the many ways you can buy property without giving in to the power of an institutional banker or mortgage lender. There are many others; these are just some of the most common.

There are hundreds of real estate investing courses, books, manuals, and seminars available that can teach you specific techniques for creative real estate investing. If you are unsure of your ability to fully grasp the techniques or would like to take your real estate investing career to the next level, there are also some highly qualified real estate investing mentors and coaches available who can teach you everything they know for a fee. Some are quite expensive, but the education you receive may be priceless.

Whether you choose to use bank financing or learn a number of creative real estate investing techniques, your future is limited only by your imagination and your ability to locate properties to buy. Set your goals, learn your trade, and get off the couch. Seize your future and accept the reality that you can build any future you want. Get started today by just getting started.