All Forum Posts by: Ellen Bouton

The original plot was 160 acres. The seller had cut off 10 acres and built a home (my home now, under separate mortgage), and the 10 acre plot was grandfathered in when the county zoning changed the rule that you had to have at least 20 acres to build a house.

So the 150 remaining acres is all one piece, not subdivided in any way.

I will get an attorney involved so I do this right. Thanks again. What a great site.

Thank you so much for your responses.
The only restriction is that I give him 4 months' notice before paying off the contract (so he can figure out how to 1031 exchange the transaction, I think). The only zoning restriction in our area is that the land cannot be divided into parcels of fewer than 20 acres. It's mostly agricultural, with high quality grazing land, and the market seems to favor sellers, as folks from Texas and other southern states are moving north looking for grass.

Thank you so much for your response; it's very helpful. Yes, the property was free and clear when we bought it, and the seller is pretty well off, I think. He's just kind of a bully.

Again, thank you for your explanation. It's a relief to know I can reduce our debt load.

Jeff S., forgive my ignorance in these matters. What you're saying would be ideal, but I need a little more clarification. When I have a buyer for the 80 acres, will that buyer not want to know that I own the property with a clear title? Or do I just do a sale contract stating I will provide clear title when I receive the funds, then obtain the title when I pay off the original owner? I just want to be sure everything I'm doing is on the up and up. (not implying that you're not.)

I could work with the original deed holder if I can't find another way, but he's a little difficult so I'm trying to avoid him.

But how can I sell the land when I don't hold the deed to begin with?

I bought 160 acres on a contract for deed 3 years ago at a very reasonable price,[b] but with a change in circumstances, I'm struggling to make the biannual payments.

The value of land has nearly doubled since then. If I could sell 80 acres of it, I could pay off the contract but of course the seller has the deed, not me. It wouldn't make sense for him to permit me to sell it when he could let me default and sell the whole thing for a huge profit.

Can anyone suggest a way I could pull this off and still keep half the land?