How to Lease Vacant Land
- 1). Negotiate a sales price and terms with the seller. Once you locate the vacant land you're interested in leasing, you can negotiate a price with the seller. You also need to work out the terms of the agreement such as the length of the loan, the interest rate, the down payment amount required and the monthly payment amount.
- 2). Draw up a sales contract. Once you have the sales price and the terms of the agreement negotiated, put the agreement in writing. You can use a real estate attorney to draw up the contract, access contract templates online that you can modify to fit your needs or buy contract templates from a local office supply store.
- 3). Have both parties sign the agreement. Both the buyer and seller of the land must sign the agreement in order for the contract to be executed and considered legal.
- 4). Make the down payment. At the time the agreement is signed you should provide your down payment in accordance with what was agreed upon in the written agreement. Be sure to retain a copy of the agreement for your records as well as a copy of the canceled check or receipt for the down payment amount.
- 5). Record the agreement. Once the agreement is in place, record the agreement with the county clerk's office in the county where the property is located. This is a legal filing in the public records to show that you have an agreement to lease the land, which can be helpful if a legal dispute arises between you and the seller.
- 6). Make your monthly payments. Always make your monthly payments to the seller on time and continue to do so until the property is paid for in full.
- 7). Receive and record the property deed. When you pay for the property in full the seller must sign over the deed of the property to you, which is an official transfer of ownership from the seller to you. When you receive the deed to the property, record the deed with the county clerk's office to be included in the public records.
