I own a house in a pretty bad area that I'm desperately trying to unload. It's a nice house, but like I said, bad area so it's not attractive to people who can really afford to purchase real estate. I bought it about 2 years ago to remodel and hopefully turn for a bit of a profit, but I let myself get to much invested in it.

Because I already have more into it than I can realistically get out of it, I'm attempting to sell this house myself. If I can do that, I can live with the $ I'll lose, but if I have to pay 6% realtor fees it'll be a finacial disaster for me.

The only real solid offer I've had by doing this is by a property investment firm that wants to buy it on land contract and turn it into a rental property. Now the guy who owns the firm is a nice guy and he seems very legit, but this makes me VERY nervous.

What he wants to do is buy it on a standard land contract for about what I'm asking and make payments to me for 1 or 2 years (I can choose) During this time he'll pay taxes and insurance and basically own the property. So he'll be giving me about $300 above what I'll be paying on the mortgage every month.

At the end of the 1 or 2 year term, he'll pay me the balance.

His rationale behind this is that he wants some capital up front to improve the property above and beyond what I've already done to it. (and it does still neeed a bit of work) and he owns several other properties in the neighborhood and wants to control as much as he can to keep the values of those properties up.

Now if this all works out it's a very lucrative deal for me. I get my asking price, + interest for the duration and I get out of this deal immediately. However, if I have to forclose on him it could be a NIGHTMARE, especially if he's rented it out.

I've checked the investment company's credit and it's good, and I'm leaning towards doing this for a 1yr term. But I'm seeking some professional advice. Does this sort of thing happen in real estate? Or if I should run as far away as I possibly can?

Remember it's in a pretty bad area.

Thanks, and sorry for the length

Sounds ok to me, just make sure you get annual receipts for tax and insurance payments.
In my state Realtors can't write a land contract (any more), only attorneys. Make sure your attorney gives his/her blessing and press on.
A land contract can provide more protection for the seller and does not have to be recorded, making it easier to repo. the property. Also, make sure the verbiage in the lease gives you some protection.