Land owner looking for advice on seller financing deal.

Land owner looking for advice on seller financing deal.

Cedar City, UT · Member since 2019 · 1 post · 0 votes

I came to bigger pockets hoping to gain some knowledge about the pros and cons of seller financing.  I'm currently discussing a deal with a developer who is interested in my land.  The developer is asking me to seller finance 50% of the price and be second lien position.  To me, second position appears too risky.  However, I have heard that this is a common deal structure for land developers. Is that true? 

The deal is structured as follows

Land: 19.5 acres

Price: $200,000

Buyer will put $100,000 down of their own money

Seller Finance: $100,000 in second lien position

Interest Rate: 5%

Term: 24 months (I might be able to negotiate this down to 18 months)

Received Monthly: $4,387

An Escrow would be set up at the buyers expense to manage the loan.

The developer is one of the more prominent names in my area and appears to have a good reputation but I don't know enough about land development to feel comfortable with the risk of being the second position lender. I'm out of my comfort zone but I want to get this deal done. Is there any way to add protections into this deal as a second lien position? Is there another way to structure this deal that would work better for me and be agreeable for the buyer? Is there a market for second position notes and if so, how much would I need to discount this note to find a buyer? Any feedback or advice is greatly appreciated.

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  • Flipper/Rehabber · Richland, WA · Member since 2019 · 24 posts · 17 votes
    7y

    just my opinion, but he's treating you as a hard money lender without the interest rate perks. I would adjust your interest rate to model a hard money/private lender model.  If you're going to take the same risk as that model you should receive compensation for it. If he doesn't want to do that, then he needs to be ok in 2nd position just like a typical lien would work.  Exciting deal!

  • Specialist · Lubbock, TX · Member since 2018 · 32 posts · 14 votes
    7y

    @Dirk Hooley I owner finance properties myself, I would put a much higher interest rate on the deal myself. The risk also depends on what type of development he's going to be building and where it's located along with the timeline for getting the roads and utilities put in.

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