I have dealt with land contracts for years and in Ohio there is very little in law that spells out the rights of the parties, and therefore the attorneys and courts have a field day when these contracts go bad; they are just a product that probably should not be used unless the parties know each other well before going forward, i.e., they are friends or family. Plan on thousands of dollars to enforce the contract if there is a default. Very few of these contracts ever work out as planned because a buyer who needs a land contract to purchase is frankly NOT READY TO BUY and may have little incentive to improve his credit and income situation later, so a default is easy. FYI, if the buyer destroys the property (and you have little control of what he can do to it since this is not a lease) and he notifies you that he plans to breach the contract, if he leaves the keys on the kitchen counter and surrenders the "collateral" to you, you get your damaged property back with likely no recourse against him. Be aware that investors love land contracts because they can acquire a home easily, then rent it out to someone else who you have no control over, and they make good money with minimal risk since the risk is all yours. Get a big down payment from the buyer to cover your risk, and do have an experienced real estate attorney set this up for you. By the way, how do you think I know all this stuff? Yes, I've had expensive experiences I'll never repeat. You are better with a lease with option to buy, so you have control. Or list the home with an excellent Realtor who'll find you qualified - not unqualified - buyers.

Thomas,

good advice so far for the most part but what you really need to do is get an attorney involved... A GOOD agent can be of help but even having done several of these and being a broker i do not handle the specifics myself. you REALLY need legal help with this...

Sounds like you are going for sale by owner? that AND a land contract spell disaster to me...

PS... get a REAL ESTATE attorney...

Hope that helps,

Mark

and if you have a current mortgage on your home, you might want to check your loan terms to make sure they do not contain an alienation clause that is written such that if your lender discovers you are selling your home on contract,your bank can accelerate your loan and call the entire thing due and payable.

It's whatever you and the buyer agree to. However, figure that if the buyer wants to do a land contract, he's either unable or unwilling to purchase outright. If he's unable, then any interest rate you offer should certainly be above the "going" rate. The going rate right now for qualified buyers is around 5%. So you'd be looking at something above that. How much above that? It's as high as you can make it, and as much as he's willing to pay. 9%? 12%? 15%? Any of those might be worth considering. I just sold a manufactured home with owner financing and charged 11.75%.

So, there's no "usual."

Hope that helps.