What's Better in CA? Seller Deed of Trust or Land Sale Contract

[Katrina Edwards]

Can we talk about seller financing? Always a weird thing in my neck of the woods and fairly uncommon here for SFH.

Do you have an opinion on either for a seller who owns a SFR free and clear and is thinking of selling to tenants?

The sellers' concerns are 1) paying capital gains taxes upon sale or scrambling to find an exchange;  and 2) continuing an income stream that is relatively stress free. 

Current rent is $4250.00; property value is around $1.5M and their taxable basis is probably around $100k. They are thinking of financing about $1M for the tenant/buyer.

Is it easier/harder more/less expensive to foreclose on an installment contract rather than a deed of trust?

I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences...