Welcome to Real Deals! It’s always easier to learn from real life so here we share information from actual owner financed transactions.
A land developer sold 10 to 20 acre tracts of land in Northern Washington State. Knowing land can be more difficult to finance through conventional bank loans, the seller offered owner financing terms to buyers.
Seller Financed Land Note Terms
A Canadian citizen in nearby British Columbia was interested in one of the parcels and offered to purchase for $32,205 with a $3,390 cash down payment. The seller financed the balance of $28,815 at 12.0% interest with the buyer making payments of $347 each month for approximately 15 years.
The payments on the Note and Deed of Trust were serviced through an outside escrow servicing company. This company collected the monthly payments, kept track of the balance, sent out annual statements, held the documents in safekeeping, and acted as a neutral third party for the seller and buyer.
After about 5 years went by the seller desired additional capital to expand a new development. Preferring cash now rather than payments over time, the seller contacted a local private investor to purchase his seller financed notes. After receiving 68 monthly payments the buyer’s unpaid principal balance had paid down to $23,122.90 with approximately 111 payments still remaining.
The private note investor purchased the right to all the remaining 111 payments and the seller received $20,654 upon assigning his note rights. Additionally, the seller had received and retained the previous 68 monthly payments equaling $23,596 (68 x $367) plus the down payment of $3,390 bringing the grand total collected to $47,640 on the $32,205 sale.
Profiting with Land Notes
How was the seller able to collect more than the sales price? The seller was earning interest at 12% on the owner financed note for over 5 years before deciding to sell the remaining payments. Instead of the bank collecting interest, the seller became the bank to maximize profits.
Interested in Learning More About Profiting with Notes?
Check out these helping resources about investing in real estate notes.
- Profiting with Notes, Note Investing 101 Mini-Series Episode (Link)
- Creating Notes Master Class (Link)
- 21 Tips to Read Before You Get Started Investing in Notes (Link)
- Real Deal Series (Link)
Real deals are based on actual transactions completed within the past ten years. Market conditions change frequently resulting in pricing and underwriting changes by note investors. Work with qualified professionals when creating new notes to obtain accurate and up-to-date pricing and investment parameters.
do you need a license to sell notes in the state of Washington?