Practical Aspects of Seller finance in CA- or how do you actually do it :-) ?

[Valerie Menke]

Hi Friends, I'm an investor and a real estate agent and I have a seller client that would be the ideal candidate for seller finance. I would like to pitch that to him and try to connect him with a buyer client of mine. His house would sell for about 800k and is paid off. His main concern are taxes. I understand all the advantages and how it technically works- but to those of you who have done it: How did you actually do it?

 I think in our case it would make sense to do a regular downpayment that doesn't exceed his wife and his capital gains allowance since his main concern is taxes- which shouldn't be a problem. 

1. Lets say we did a 3% interest rate and a balloon after 10 years (with the option of an extension if the buyers can't qualify for the loan or the interest rate exceeds for example 6%). Would we still do an amortization schedule for 30 years to calculate the monthly payments? Who comes up with that amortization schedule?

2. Who keeps track of the loan balance/ interest paid? How do buyers and sellers best keep track of those numbers?

3. Did you have the contract put together by an attorney? Or did you feel having escrow involved was sufficient?

Thank you for your help!