# Land Trust



## Theront (Feb 26, 2005)

I might have someone interested in purchasing my house. He wants to do it on a land trust. I have been looking but can't find a whole lot of information. I can find classes to teach you how to do it. It sounds as if the title is put into a trust fund. I am then basically out of the picture for a set amount of time. He had mentioned 6-18 months. That is how long would take to resolve.


Any one heard of this or familiar.

Thanks
Theront


----------



## Stann (Jan 2, 2005)

Google "conservation easement land trust" and you'll get more info. 

The primary purpose of a land trust is to set aside aspects of your land, "permanently county recorded" under a conservation easement deed, so that a non-profit corporation will have responsibility, ie. stewardship, to ensure that future generations uphold that deed, and so that nobody can subdivide, or further build houses on, or create easements on the land. It's meant to restrict the land to it's current state, for future generations to enjoy in it's current state, such as protecting wildlife areas or wetlands. Lawyers can write the deed contents to contain any aspect of conservation that you wish.

The benefits for the landowner is that land trusts may have some tax benefits.

Look at www.landtrust.org and www.landtrustalliance.org


----------



## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

Stann,

Land trusts are also commonly used to manage property such as farms for business purposes. A neighbor down the road has his farm in a Land Trust to manage estate taxes. The beneficiaries of the trust are his grandchildren. Nothing to do with eco greenies.

Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_trust

Mike


----------



## Theront (Feb 26, 2005)

Here is what might happen if we decide to do the land trust. We put the title into a trust fund and he takes over and manages the property for a set time frame. He will locaate a perspective buyer and put them into the house. This buyer might need to do some credit repair or something like that for a while. All this while the person whom i enter into the land trust with will be making the payments, taxes, insurance, maintenance and such. I don't do anything with the property other than it stays under my mortgage for the time frame. 

I have been looking and looking and this doesn't seem like a bad way to go. I have been trying for almost 3 years to sell property with no luck. I finally put a renter in for a year and a half. Now I am faced with clean up and repair from the renter. 

Thanks
Theront


----------



## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

Red flag alert. 

I Am Not a Lawyer but I can't imagine you can put it in a land trust without permission from the mortgage holder. It is technically a change in ownership.

What's in it for this guy?

Why the need for a Land Trust? This seems a complex way to achieve what you described in your most recent post. 

Get yourself a competent real estate attorney. You are trying to do something that is technically complex and you are relying on the other party to look out for your interests?

This is how people get themselves into trouble.

Mike


----------



## Theront (Feb 26, 2005)

I have a real estate attorney involved. The attorney is waiting for some documents to go over to read the fine print and see.


Thanks
Theron


----------



## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

I hope it works out for you.

Mike


----------



## edcopp (Oct 9, 2004)

Most attorneys need additional education to do a land trust properly. Usually they will need extra fees too.

A land trust is by nature a complicated thing, and is not easily explained in a few sentances. They are complicated to set up, and complicated to disassemble. This is for a reason.

The land trust can be a benefit to all concerned if done properly and everyone understands what is being done and for what reason.

A good instance is a ROTH IRA, which if it holds title to real estate is a "Land Trust".

There are many individuals who teach the information about land trusts. Some are lawyers and some are not. Some are qualified and some are not, not necessarily the same ones. Expect to spend a few hundred, up to a few thousand dollars for this education.

The main reason that one would use a land trust is for privacy, and manipulation of taxes. The land trust "trustee" holds the title (in trust) for the person, persons or entity who has the beneficial interests of the trust (usually for a fee). There is ususlla a management fee annually, as well as other services that the trustee may provide for the trust. So it would be a good idea to have a trustee that you can trust, and who is competent to do the work.

You might want to check with your local library for a book about land trusts. There is a lot available to read up on. No sense paying your lawyer to "read up" on the subject when you can do that your self.

Perhaps you have heard of Walmart. Sam Walton when he was young in the business, set up a trust with his children as Beneficiaries. He contributed millions of WMT shares to the trust when the stock was only worth pennies and some questioned that. Over time the pennies turned into millions of dollars that the adult (old) children now live on. 

Money that accumulated in the trust is not taxed until it is taken out. So the children get an allowance from the trust, taxed when they get it. Sam thought it better to pay tax on say $1,000 once in a while than to pay tax on say a hundred million or so.:goodjob: SAM.


----------



## coup (Feb 28, 2007)

a guy up the road from me has his land in a land trust and he says it is so no one can sue him and take his land.....he says he will fix it for you for like $1200...

i think him say no taxes either but not sure.......you put someone else on as administor(or something) and use an address from another state....

everyone here is afraid to talk to him about it........he says he learned the hard way...........


----------



## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

...............A very rich family has a Big ranch about 2 miles due south of Weatherford , TX . They didn't want the city too condemn any part of the ranch so they setup some kind of legal entity for wildlife preservation and virtually , stopped everyone ! The growth can go east or west , but it can't go south ! The family is the Moncriefs ! , fordy


----------



## Natural Beauty Farm (Feb 17, 2003)

I've got a land trust here. Taxes, prevention of bing sued, yadda yadda. Does not sound anything like what you are doing. That sounds more like an escrow transaction. Watch out big time, it is a land transaction and you could be on the hook for everything, taxes, morgage, etc.... without seeing a dime. Basically it sounds like they are going to lock your land up, rent it out and take the benefits. A land trust is what Stann was saying. When I put mine in I lowered my tax base and got a huge check. Now the land is protected AND if it were to be sold it is worth less, so someone could theoretically afford to buy it as one piece. Also make sure the "broker" of this deal is not having you sign something that gives them the "trust value", that has happened here even with lawyers involved. Land owners sign thinking they are selling their land and all it does is give away the value of the trust to a 3rd party. Could be several thousand dollars.


----------

