A land contract is often referred to as a contract for deed, an agreement for deed, an installment sale agreement or a land installment contract. This is a special contract entered into between the buyer and the seller of a piece of real estate. The contract involves the seller offering financing to the purchaser of the property. That financing is then generally paid off in installments.
The installment payments associated with a contract for deed are usually smaller in the beginning than they are in the end when their payments usually balloon. Sometimes the ballooned installment payments are so high that the borrower has trouble making the payments. Furthermore, since the landowner still technically owns the land associated with a deed of trust and merely — as per the agreement — has allowed the borrower to possess the property, the contract for deed person can easily repossess the property to regain his or her property.
Land contracts detail the sale of a piece of real estate property to a buyer, so they are technically classified as real estate contracts under the law. However, these situations are not that common, as it is rare for the seller to provide a loan to the buyer of a property. Rather, the loan is provided by a bank or a third party lender.
Contracts for deed and land contracts can be the source of a lot of disagreement due to the changing financial circumstances of the borrower. Indeed, if the borrower suddenly loses his or her job, then it may be difficult to pay off the loan, and if the borrower defaults, it could become necessary to involve a real estate attorney to try and sort out the situation in a way that allows the borrower to keep his or her home.