Own Real Estate With No Money? So how is this possible you ask? Well, its really quite simple. One way of purchasing a piece of real estate without putting any money down upfront, is to have the person that is selling the home, pay the closing costs. Lets assume that you want to purchase a piece of real estate for $500.000. If you ask the seller to pay the closing costs, the seller will probably ask you to pay $502.000 for the house, the seller will then use the extra $2,000 they get from you to pay the closing costs of the home. So, when all is said and done, you are the one that ends up paying the closing costs of the home. However, purchasing a home this way makes it possible for you to avoid paying the closing costs up front.