By Erik Peterson, founder of Landopia. 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 eight 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.
- What the Peace of Mind Guarantee actually is
- Why I put it in every terms deal
- What’s covered, and what’s not
- The one rule that keeps it alive
- Terms only, not cash
- How the 100-day clock works
- How to use it, step by step
- The kinds of calls that actually come in
- Common questions
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.
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 covers | What it doesn’t cover |
|---|---|
| Principal you’ve paid toward the land | The $250 doc fee |
| A clean exit any time inside 100 days | Property taxes already collected |
| An exchange into another parcel | Note maintenance fees |
| Your choice of refund or exchange, no reason owed | Optional payment protection plan fees |
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. Taxes collected go to the county, not to me, and I can’t claw them back. Note maintenance fees and any optional payment protection plan you signed up for cover services that were already running. None of that comes back, and I’m not going to pretend it does. A refund returns the principal you paid for the land. It is not a “full refund,” and any land seller who promises you one is telling you a story.
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.
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’ve got 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 runs a $250 doc fee on the new contract, and remember, your original 100-day clock keeps ticking.
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.
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 Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Nevada, and Florida 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.
Common questions
Is the Peace of Mind Guarantee a full refund?
No. A refund returns the principal you’ve paid on the land only. The $250 doc fee, any taxes collected, note maintenance fees, and any optional payment protection plan fees don’t come back because those are third-party costs that were already spent. Anybody promising a true “full refund” on land is stretching it.
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 for a $250 doc fee, and your principal carries over to the new one. Refund or exchange is your call.
Do I have to explain why I want out?
No. “I changed my mind” is enough, and you’ll never have to defend it to get your money back. That said, if you’re willing to tell us what didn’t fit, it helps more than you’d think. It teaches us about the folks we sell to and about the land itself, and it makes the next parcel we point someone toward a better fit. Consider it a favor to us, never a hoop for you.
How do I get started?
Talk to a Land Specialist. They’ll walk you through the guarantee, answer your questions, and help you find land that fits. Phone, text, or email, whatever’s easiest for you.
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.