Thank you both. The E. pearl Von nurnberg with the orange coleus nearby is one of my favorites as well. Normally the coleus get pretty leggy since I'm too lazy/apathetic to bother trimming, but this one is C. Orange Compacta, and it as stayed really full.

1. Most lenders that I have dealt with will not accept past rent as a DP on a purchase. Some will. 2. Is the contract a lease option, or a lease purchase? Any Earnest Money Deposit the Buyer puts down on a lease purchase is legally supposed to be held in an escrow account (no comingling of funds)and and is credited back to Buyer if they close. The Deposit check should be made out to an attorney and the attorney should hold in escrow until close. On a lease option, the deposit is an option fee, as opposed to an Earnest Money Deposit, and the seller can cash the option fee as soon as he receives it. Of course, these are items that are true for NC. Some states probably differ. 3. I would treat them as renters until the closing. That is what they are after all... renters. I would not allow them to do repairs, improvements, changes, painting, w/o your prior written approval. You do not want to have to take back a house that renters had free control over for a year. 4. Make sure you spell out in the contract the details of the agreed upon purchase price... What happens if the home will not appraise for the value in one year? What if they can purchase it sooner? Are they able to do so or no? 5. You say you will do this contract w/o a deposit. No way. They need to pay you a fee for the service and opportunity that you are giving them. Also, you are keeping yourself from selling the home to qualified buyers NOW, in the hopes that they will purchase in the FUTURE. If these people never go to close after the year term, you will have subsidized their lease by 25%, collected no deposit of any kind, and will probably be stuck with the property in worse shape than it was a year earlier. These risks are real, and you need to be compensated for them. You do not want to be a year down the road with no deposit money AND no buyers. If they do not have any money at all to put down now, how are they going to save up for at least a 3.5% down payment in 12 months? Especially if most banks will not honor the rental overages? 6. Break the deal into two contracts... a standard rental agreement for the first year, and also sign a Purchase Agreement, with a closing date one year out. 7. Treat the renters as renters, and the buyers as buyers. For the first year, they are renters that paid an upfront option fee, or Earnest Money Deposit, in exchange for the option to buy later. They become buyers after the rental agreement is over and they sucessfully get approved for the mortgage. Lease purchses are great, but both sides need to be aware of the details. If you are able, a better deal for all, may be for seller financing. Again, the devil is in the details.

Just MPO...unless you need the income from the lease...I would not renew the lease and I would insist the cell phone company remove their tower. Food for thought....at some point in time you may wish to sell the land...all of it...and potential buyers may not wish to have a high cell tower anywhere on the land. Ergo..it will have a detrimental effect on property sale/value. Another thought...if you decide to sell the land...there's really no telling what this current cell phone company...or a future buyer of that cell phone tower company...will do with the land. They could add more towers or communication equipment. They could request a permanent egress route if there isn't one now. How would that effect your privacy/property? Their future equipment might interfere with your home communication/electronic equipment. Local laws may prohibit some things...but this company has a much bigger voice and more money to go back to the town for variances that might not please you. Last of my thoughts but not the least...the tower company/companies might go bust! It's happened in my neck of the woods. They don't have the funds to remove their equipment and the property owner is either stuck with the monstrosity on their property...or to pay for removal themselves [costly]...or to take the defunct company to court for any number of contract infractions requiring them to remove the tower or them pay for its removal. Any way you look at this scenario...it's costly both financially and mentally. All tolled...I personally don't like the deal at all and would extricate myself from the entire project as soon as you legally are able.

I started off something is changing or about to and then you answered that question later in your post -- the providers are outsourcing the towers. It is a cost saving measure -- not only do they put maintenance in the hands of specialists who can work on any provider's towers, they are moving to combining towers so the hardware cost, the land rents, the need for number of people and locations are all reduced as well. Why can you not do the deals directly? Economics. You have one tower. You are inexperienced and are going to be in over your head. They won't want to deal with you on solo terms, They either have to stop and explain everything or you will be run over. It will take them far more time to deal with you than it is worth to them. It is also likely to cost you more time than it is worth to you. A good attorney in a specialized area would be cheap at $500-600/hr and could be $1000/hr or more (top guy -- who probably has associates and paralegals at a lesser rate doing some of the work and also billing). Every time you talk to them, they talk to the tower lawyer, read documents or do any work, you get billed. You would likely burn up years of the rent you are currently getting and it may outweigh the increases they would be offering for years to come. And that's not only the original deal, but wth any questions or problems down the road. My DH was involved in some licensing deals 7 or 8 years ago and they are still dealing with disputes on those. Not using experienced, specialized lawyers who know what issues to spot and forsee would be against your interests. Stupid in laymans terms. But again, it would cost them more money to deal with you as someone outside the game and they might not even talk to you. They have likely set up a system to have all their contracts the same and want to keep it that way for simplicity and efficiency. My guess is that you would get nowhere. They will wait for you to give up and come to them or find another spot and leave you out of the deal. What I would look at is whether you are willing to have the tower on your property for as many years as they need it? Does it limit your use, interfere with anything? Would it prevent you from leasing or selling the property down the road (a buyer might like the income, but depending on their purpose, the tower could get in the way and nix the deal -- but the income might also lessen the interest you have in selling the property). I get the frustration -- you don't seem to know enough to understand what is happening and what it should be worth to you. You want to make sure you get a fair deal. Your negotiation position is limited. I just entered cell tower lease in google and the first hit is for a group that says it works with property owners, government agencies, etc in negotiating leases (steelintheair - I know nothing about them, so proceed with some caution). I'm sure the will want to sign you up and claim a fee or possibly a percentage of the rents you would recieve. You could start with talking to someone there or a similar group. I would expect a strong sell and some pressure to sign up -- not unlike the personal injury lawyers on TV. But stand your ground and get questions answered first and make sure you understand what the will and won't do for you. Read carefully any contract they offer and consider having another attorney look it over to make sure you don't sign away something without realizing it. Know exactly what it is going to cost you to have them represent you and why it would be a benefit over not using them. Perhaps this group or another had contacted you or your neighbor. Compare notes. Your taller tower is likely worth more, so don't focus on dollars so much as concepts and rights in the deal (how add-ons are treated, whether rents increase over the years or with inflation, etc.). Don't be rushed into signing anything. Make sure you understand everything before you sign. Sleep on it, get away from it and make sure you don't have any forgotten or unrealized questions (you probably will at some point -- the pros get into years of disputes because what they thought was clear isn't so clear years later, but you want to minimize those issues). The values aren't likely to decrease in the short term. There is sometimes a premium for the last folks who sign -- but you risk them finding a way to go around you and having nothing at the end of your current term (maybe sooner if there is an out under the current lease). I've just scratched the surface and this is long. Haven't seen or read anything -- can you see why it could cost a small fortune to try to go it alone? On the other hand, for no real time or effort on your part, you could wind up with a nice stream of income -- but it isn't likely to replace your day job. Enjoy it, don't be run over, but don't get thinking greedy if you want to stay in the game. And that's about all I can tell you -- keep in mind I know nothing about any particulars and my answers are intended to be common sense replies to general questions, not particular legal advise. As my mom always said, it may be worth exactly what you paid for it. But I hope it helps at least a bit.