Layperson with questions about seller financing

[DeAundrea Acosta]

Good Afternoon!

I have read a lot about on the forum about seller financing but have a few questions more specific to my situation:

I plan to approach a closing attorney to formalize something in writing, but need assistance to know how to approach this...

I am a tenant of a single family home here in LA county. I have lived here since 2021. When my lease expired in 2022, the owner and I entered into a lease to own agreement. We did this without an attorney so the terms are somewhat loose. Our agreement expires in May of next year and I want to get a head start on preparing something more official and beneficial for both of us.

The owner still has a mortgage. I'm not sure how much but, I was thinking of approaching him with a wraparound mortgage since that is the case.

We originally had an amortization schedule for payment of the option fee ($25,000.00), but he told me not to pay in order to keep cash flow. This was mainly because our agreement requires that I maintain and upgrade the property. The "upgrades" would be credited towards the sale price at time of sale. So fair have done about 7k in "upgrades".

Ultimately, I am not out much if either one of us fails to perform on the contract, but my goal is to change the arrangement of the agreement so that I have a bit more protection and the seller still has peace of mind.

Any suggestions on how I should approach this? Once I have some sound idea I will go to the owner and if he is agreeable, have an attorney draw up the docs so they are legally enforceable.

Thanks!