If you mash multiple creative tools into one offer, the seller gets confused and you get a no.
These are not the same structure. I keep them separate on every Jackson deal I write.
Seller finance means the owner becomes the bank. You agree on price, down payment, rate, term, and who holds title. On the cheap doors I chase, I am often asking for zero percent interest and low cash out so the total cash to close stays under $10k per door. The seller still has a note. You still have a payment calendar.
Subject to means the existing loan stays in the seller's name and you take over payments. You do not get a new loan. You take the property subject to that mortgage. Different risk. Different conversation. Different paper.
CATS is a creative package, not a magic word. In my use it is a written structure that can combine terms, assignment style economics, and a path that keeps cash out low. It is not shorthand for seller finance. It is not shorthand for subject to. If a listing agent hears CATS and thinks you are doing subject to on a loan they do not understand, the deal dies in the hallway.
Here is how I run it from anywhere.
I pick one primary structure before I draft the offer. One. If the seller is tired, owns free and clear or can carry paper, I write seller finance. If there is a loan in place and they need out more than they need cash, I look at subject to. I only bring CATS language when the terms need a custom wrapper and I can explain it in two sentences.
The offer sheet has three labeled boxes. Structure. Cash out. Monthly obligation. The realtor is not writing this. I am. The realtor gets involved when a tenant is moving in. The contractor gets involved when the house needs work. Neither of them should be explaining financing to the listing agent.
When I email an agent I never stack the three names in one paragraph. I name the structure, the cash to the seller, and the monthly number. That is the whole pitch. If they ask what CATS means, I answer in plain English or I drop the label and keep the terms. (Complete Agreeable Transaction System)
If the deal cannot stay under my cash cap after closing costs, insurance bind, and a make ready the contractor can finish, I do not dress it up with a different acronym. I pass or I change the terms.
That is remote execution. Clear paper. One structure. Two people on the ground. You on the numbers.
Actionable Takeaway
Open the next lead on your desk. Write one word at the top of the offer: seller finance, subject to, or CATS. Delete the other two from that sheet before you send it.