Building on owner financed/lease purchase land

[Jason Holtzinger]

WARNING, long post! But i think I pose a very interesting question/topic for disaster stricken properties if you make it to the end. Hello, My wife and I have been presented with the opportunity to purchase a piece of property we have been interested in for a long time but it has never been on the market, because of the wild fires here in northern CA the house was burnt down and the owners have approached us because they do not want to rebuild... I will try to keep this as brief and to the point as possible. The property is right next to her parents home and right down the street from my parents home. We grew up in a rural area of Sonoma County and have always wanted to move back. About a year ago her parents approached us with the idea of purchasing their home that they built about 30 years go. They know they are getting older and will not be able to take care of the large house and 3 acres of property with horse barn and shop etc. Their plan is to build another, smaller home to retire in on flatter land. We are on board. The property and home next door to them (3 acres) burnt down in the recent wild fires. The owners approached us and would like us to purchase it from them. This works perfect because my wife's parents would be able to build their retirement home on it and have the funds to do so. This enables them to stay where they want to with the added benefit of having us close to them as they get older to help maintain the property and essentially allowing my wife and I to have a larger area for the horses. Since the property burnt down the current owners can obtain permits to build again very quickly and very cheaply but if the property were to sell the new owners would have to submit for permits as if there was never a house there, thus saving potentially over 100k or more in permit fees. The current owners are willing to carry the property for X number of years/amount of time (until the permits can be transferred over). The real question is: Is it possible to build on the property if they were to "carry the note" or if we entered into a lease purchase agreement? Or must the land first be sold? Again, there would be no lending necessary for the build. I know this is a crazy situation but if we can work through it, it is a win for all parties involved. Thanks if you made it this far!