Summary
How the team handles creative-financing deal structures — contract for deed, rent-to-own, and lease-option. As of 2026-06-09 this is an open question, not a ratified SOP: two agents (Jackie Poponi, Shannon McCready) asked about it the same day, both first-timers, and the team's current stance is cautionary. The one concrete, durable takeaway is the form pointer (Addendum K = contract for deed) and the core risk framing (default on a contract for deed means foreclosure, not eviction).
Content
Status: Emerging / open team question. No documented team process exists yet. Treat the below as field guidance and a starting point, not settled doctrine. The form-selection question for a seller-side lease-option was still unanswered as of 2026-06-09.
Forms
- Contract for deed → Addendum K. This is the addendum agents have referenced for a contract-for-deed (installment land contract) structure. Confirm the current form version and exact name before use.
- Rent-to-own / lease-option (seller protecting their own home): the right form to give a seller an option to buy later while preserving the ability to take the home back and keep the tenant responsible only for non-repairs is still an open question — no answer captured yet. Loop in the broker / transaction support before drafting one of these solo.
The core risk: eviction vs. foreclosure
The defining distinction agents need to understand before recommending a structure:
- Traditional lease/rental default → eviction. Relatively fast and straightforward.
- Contract for deed (or installment) default → foreclosure. Much harder, slower, and more costly — the buyer has acquired an equitable interest, so the seller can't simply evict.
Because of that asymmetry, the current team lean is to steer most of these toward a traditional rental (or selling to a long-term tenant) unless the seller fully understands the foreclosure exposure. Reputation note from the field: many "rent-to-own" operators have a poor reputation, so advise buyers to weigh a traditional purchase first.
Practical handling
- These are first-timer-heavy deals on this team — expect to be in unfamiliar territory and escalate rather than improvise the paperwork.
- When the seller is a past client (e.g. a referral-source vendor), the relationship raises the stakes on getting the structure and disclosures right.
Related
- buyer-rep-agreement-scoping — companion "how to scope/draft the agreement and forms correctly" SOP for non-standard arrangements.
Source Notes
- From a 2026-06-09 #ask-artemis discussion. Two separate same-day asks on the same topic (Jackie re: contract for deed / Addendum K; Shannon re: a seller-side rent-to-own on her own home). Cautionary framing from Andrew Meirink; no ratified process and no definitive form answer for the lease-option case at capture time.
- This page should be upgraded toward an SOP (and possibly re-homed under
sops/) once the team documents a standard process and confirms the correct forms.