questions about land contracts.

[Benjamin Cowles]

how do you protect your investment in a property someone else owns?

how do you keep liens/encumbrances off the title?

If the seller already has a mortgage in place, one that could foreclose on the property, would you insist on taking the "deed subject to"?

how do you know the seller is using your payments to pay the T&I?

when flippinga/assigning a land contract, how typical and easy or not is it? is it standard or something to be emphasized at some point as an option before signing anything? I'm thinking from a seller's pov that my trust is being transferred to a stranger. isn't that something a seller should think twice about or should the deal have been structured so that the actual entity/person you're selling to makes little/no difference?

Thanks!

[Matt Motil]

A land contract and purchase money mortgage is when the seller carries the loan for the buyer and becomes the bank. If the property has existing financing in place from lender to seller, then the seller is not in a position to offer the buyer a mortgage because there is an existing lien in place and title cannot be transferred. Could you do a land contract subject 2 existing financing? Yes, if that's what you're wanting to do, but you will not get title on the property until the existing loan and any additional loan you've encumbered is paid off. A purchase money mortgage will transfer title immediately and the seller will carry the note back, but this isn't possible if there is an open lien on the property. Make sense?