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Landopia

Owner Financing

Our Land Money-Back Guarantee, Explained

By Erik Peterson8 min read
In this guide
  1. What the guarantee actually is
  2. Why I put it in every terms deal
  3. What's covered, and what's not
  4. The one rule that keeps it alive
  5. Terms only, not cash
  6. How the 100-day clock works
  7. How to use it, step by step
  8. The calls that come in
  9. Where the door is
  10. Common questions

A note from Erik

I'm not a lawyer, and this isn't fine print dressed up to sound friendly. I'm the guy who wrote this guarantee and signs off on every refund and exchange that runs through it. I've sold a few hundred parcels across a handful of states, and the question underneath almost every first call is the same one: what happens if I get this wrong? This is my answer to it.

You're sitting there with the down payment ready to go. You've looked at the parcel online, maybe on a map, maybe from the road. You've talked to one of my Land Specialists, and you understand how the owner financing works. And still, right before you send that first payment, there's a voice in the back of your head asking the question every land buyer asks: What if I'm wrong about this?

Most land deals give you nowhere to put that question. You buy it, you own it, and if it turns out the road floods every spring or the drive is longer than you'll ever really make, that's your problem now. There's no counter to walk back up to. That one-way door is exactly why a lot of good people talk themselves out of land they'd have loved. A few of those folks would've been better off if they'd just asked the right questions before buying, but even the right questions can't tell you how a place will feel once it's yours.

Hunter, weekend camper, homesteader, fella who just wants somewhere his phone doesn't work? Every one of you asks some version of that same question, and you deserve a straight answer. So let me give it to you plain. Here's exactly what our Peace‑of‑Mind Guarantee covers, what it doesn't, how the 100 days work, and the one thing that can void it.

What the Peace‑of‑Mind Guarantee actually is

Every owner-financed land deal I sell comes with a money-back guarantee. We call it the Peace‑of‑Mind Guarantee, and the short version fits on a bumper sticker: 100% principal back, 100-day guarantee.

Here's what that means with no dressing on it:

  • You have 100 days from the date of your down payment to change your mind.
  • If you're not satisfied for any reason, you can get back every dollar of principal you've paid toward the land.
  • Or you can swap the parcel for another one in our inventory and carry your money over.
  • Either way, you get out clean.

That's it. You don't have to make your case to me. You don't have to prove the land is bad. "I changed my mind" is a complete sentence around here. The whole point is that you get to actually stand on the ground, sit with it, sleep on it, and make sure it fits your life before you're locked in.

Why I put it in every terms deal

I own the parcels I sell. I finance the sales myself. When you make a payment, it comes to us, not to a bank three states away. So when I tell you I'll give your principal back if you change your mind, that's my money on the line, not somebody else's policy I'm reading off a card.

I do it because a land purchase somebody talked themselves into is bad for both of us. If you buy under pressure and spend the next year regretting it, I didn't do my job. I'd rather lose a deal to the right decision than trap a good person in the wrong one. The guarantee is how I put that in writing.

It also takes the scariest part off the table. A lot of buyers come to us because we don't run a credit check and don't need a bank to say yes. The guarantee is the other half of that. Low barrier to get in, and a real door to get back out if it isn't right.

Two people shaking hands over a white fence rail with green trees blurred behind them.
Photo by Erika Fletcher on Unsplash

What's covered, and what's not

The guarantee covers your principal, which is the money that actually goes toward the price of the land. It doesn't cover the third-party costs that sit on top of that price. Here's the whole thing side by side:

What the guarantee coversWhat it doesn't cover
Principal you've paid toward the landThe doc fee, shown on your listing
A clean exit any time inside 100 daysProperty taxes already collected
An exchange into another parcelNote maintenance fees
Your choice of refund or exchange, no reason owedPayment Protection Program fees, if you chose one

Let me be straight about the exclusions, because this is where money-back guarantee gets oversold everywhere else. The doc fee is spent on the day you buy, on preparing and recording your paperwork, so it doesn't come back. Same with taxes we've already passed through to the county and note maintenance fees for the months you held the agreement. None of it is a penalty for leaving. It's money that already went somewhere on your behalf. What comes back is every dollar that went toward the price of the land.

While the 100 days are running, you're not just sitting on your hands either. You can go use the land while you're still paying it off. Camp on it, walk it in a different season, bring the family out for a weekend. That's usually how people figure out whether it's a keeper.

The one rule that keeps it alive

There's a single condition, and I'll say it plainly so nobody gets surprised: the guarantee only holds if you stay current on your payments.

Miss a payment or run late during the 100 days, and the guarantee is void. "Late" means your payment didn't reach us within 10 calendar days of its due date. Stay current, and the guarantee stays in force the whole window. Slip on even one payment and it's gone. It's a fair trade. I'm giving you a real out, and all I ask back is that you hold up your end while you decide.

Terms only, not cash

The Peace‑of‑Mind Guarantee applies to terms sales, meaning owner-financed purchases. If you pay cash, the sale is final and sold as-is, with no guarantee attached.

That surprises some folks, so here's the reason. The guarantee exists to make the terms of the path feel safe for a buyer who's putting a little down and trusting me to carry the note. A cash buyer has already done their own diligence, closed the whole thing in one shot, and priced that certainty in. Different deal, different rules.

How the 100-day clock works

The clock starts the day your down payment clears. Not the day you signed, not the day you first talked to a Specialist. The day the money hits and clears. Mark that date and count 100 days forward. That's your deadline.

Now here's the part the internet usually gets wrong, so read this one twice. The guarantee is one time per customer. If you exchange into a different parcel, you do not get a fresh 100 days. The clock keeps running from your original down payment date. An exchange moves your money to better ground; it does not reset the timer. Once you've used the guarantee, or once the 100 days pass, that window is closed.

After day 100, you own the land free of the guarantee, and you keep right on paying it down like normal. That's on purpose. I want you to have real time and real room to be sure, and I also need a purchase to become final at some point. When you do pay it off, the deed gets vested in your name, and that's a different milestone with its own set of good problems to have.

A person in a pale shirt signing a document at a dark desk, pen in hand.
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

How to use it, step by step

If you land inside the 100 days and want to use the guarantee, it's about as simple as it gets.

Step 1: Call your Land Specialist. Reach out inside the window and tell them you want to look at your options under the Peace‑of‑Mind Guarantee. Call or text is fastest, email works too. They'll walk you through it.

Step 2: Tell us which way you want to go. You have two paths. Take the refund, and we return your principal to the original form of payment and close out the agreement, with the funds coming back on the timeline your documents spell out. Or take the exchange, find a parcel that fits your budget and timeline better, and we carry your principal over to the new one. An exchange carries a doc fee on the new contract, the same as the first one did, and that number is on the listing you are moving to. Remember that your original 100-day clock keeps ticking either way.

Step 3: Let us handle the paperwork. The refund or the exchange is on us to process. You're not going to sit on hold with a bank or dig through a stack of forms. My team takes it from there.

A sandy two-track running out across open desert flats toward low dark hills, tall cloud stacked above.
Photo by Jeandre Kleynhans on Unsplash

The kinds of calls that actually come in

These aren't hypotheticals. These are the reasons people actually pick up the phone.

The season changed for him. A buyer grabs a parcel in summer. Roads are clean, access is easy, and the country is exactly what he pictured. Then January rolls around. He drives out to set up a hunting camp, and the access road is a mess without serious equipment. The land's great; the season he actually wanted to use it is not. He calls, and we exchange him for a parcel on a maintained road. Access is the kind of thing that's easy to miss up front, which is why it's worth understanding property access before you ever buy.

The tag didn't come through. A buyer picks up land in a specific game unit, planning to draw a tag there. The draw results come back, and she didn't get it. The parcel is perfect for the plan she had, but the plan just evaporated. She calls inside the 100 days and exchanges for a unit where she's already holding a tag. Same base camp idea, better odds for her season.

Life moved the goalposts. A buyer picks up ten acres in Colorado with plans to build a camp and hunt it for years. Then a job offer in another state lands that he can't turn down, and he won't touch the land for a couple of years. He calls and refunds his principal. No hard feelings. He told me he'd be back when things settle, and I believe him.

The drive was honest math. A buyer makes the trip to her parcel for the first time and admits to herself she overestimated how often she'd make that drive. Beautiful land, six hours away, realistically twice a year. She exchanges into a parcel three hours from home that she'll actually use. That's the guarantee working exactly like it should.

Every one of those got handled without an argument. That's the deal.

Where the door is when you're ready

If you don't own your piece yet and the fear of getting it wrong is what's keeping you on the sidelines, that fear is exactly what this guarantee is built to answer. Owner-financed land across the states we sell in starts with a small amount down and a payment in the neighborhood of a streaming bundle. You put a little down, you get 100 days to be sure, and if it isn't right, you've got a real way out. When one looks like yours, my Land Specialists will walk you through the whole thing.

A paved road curving downhill through pines toward a distant mountain range at dusk, pink and blue sky above the peaks.
Photo by Raychel Sanner on Unsplash

Common questions

Is the Peace-of-Mind Guarantee a full refund?

No, and I'd rather be precise about it than let the phrase oversell. A refund returns the principal you've paid toward the land. The doc fee, any taxes collected, note maintenance fees and any optional Payment Protection Program fees don't come back, because they were spent on your behalf the day you bought. The doc fee is $250 on most parcels and runs higher on more expensive ground, and the exact number is on the listing before you commit to anything.

How does the refund come back to me?

It goes back to your original form of payment. If you paid your down payment and installments by card or bank transfer, that's where the principal lands, on the timeline your documents spell out.

How long do I have to use it?

100 days from the date your down payment clears. Mark that date and count forward. After day 100, the guarantee is done, and you own the land like any other buyer.

Will using the guarantee hurt my credit?

No. We don't run a credit check to sell you the land, and there's no credit hit for exiting. A refund or exchange is a transaction between you and Landopia. It doesn't show up on your credit report.

Does it cover cash purchases?

No. The guarantee is for terms sales, meaning owner-financed purchases, only. Cash sales are final and sold as-is.

What voids it?

A missed or late payment during the 100-day period voids it on the spot. "Late" means we didn't receive your payment within 10 calendar days of its due date. Stay current, and it stays in force. Slip once, and it's gone.

Can I use it more than once?

No. It's one time per customer. If you exchange into a different parcel, the 100-day clock does not restart. You stay on the original timeline from your first down payment.

Can I exchange instead of refunding?

Yes. Inside the 100 days you can swap for another parcel, and your principal carries over to the new one. A doc fee covers preparing the new agreement, the same as it did the first time, and that number is on the listing. Refund or exchange is your call.

A piece of land is supposed to be the start of something, not a knot in your stomach. The 100 days are there, so the only thing you carry onto your own ground is what you actually meant to bring.

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