- 1). Record your land contract at your county recorder's office. Most lenders, in order to refinance a land contract, require that the contract be recorded as an official mortgage. This allows underwriters to see the agreement when they do a title search.
- 2). Make payments to the seller by check for at least six months. Most mortgage companies require a six-month payment history on a land contract before they will refinance you into a new mortgage. Obtain all of your cancelled checks to your seller and give them to your loan officer when you apply for your new mortgage.
- 3). Apply for a new mortgage. Refinancing a land contract involves the same process associated with applying for any home loan. Provide your loan officer with a copy of your land contract, cancelled checks paid to the seller and your income documentation. (W-2s from the previous two years and a month's worth of pay stubs.) If you are self-employed, you will need to produce your tax returns for the previous two years.
- 4). Close on your new loan and begin paying your lender. At closing any bank loans obtained by the seller will be paid before the seller receives funds and the contract is satisfied. Your new mortgage will then be recorded in first position on your home's title. Depending on which day of the month you close the transaction, you will begin making payments to your lender in 30 days.