Buying A | Home On Contract

For the first time in seven years, Elias and Sarah breathed. The "Land Contract" sign was long gone, replaced by a house that finally, legally, belonged to the people who had been loving it all along.

The catch? Arthur kept the to the house. Elias and Sarah held "equitable title," meaning they had the right to live there and build equity, but until that very last payment was made, the house was technically still Arthur’s. The Honeymoon Phase buying a home on contract

They had spent three years chasing the traditional American dream. They had the steady jobs—he was a master carpenter, she managed a local clinic—but they also had a mountain of student debt and a "thin" credit file that made bank loan officers look at them like they were asking for a trip to Mars. Every time they saved ten thousand dollars, the market seemed to jump by twenty. For the first time in seven years, Elias and Sarah breathed

The biggest hurdle, however, wasn’t the monthly payment; it was the . Arthur kept the to the house

The day of the "closing" wasn't at a fancy Title company office. It was back at Arthur’s kitchen table, though this time a lawyer sat between them.

In the third year, the local economy dipped. The clinic where Sarah worked cut hours, and Elias’s carpentry commissions slowed to a trickle. One month, they were two weeks late on the payment.