What's a Land Lease?

St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach, Florida, have dozens of homes that were built on land leases, many of them waterfront homes. The most well known developer of land lease homes was Jack Apple, who built in several developments back in the 1970s. To keep homes affordable, Apple sold the house with a 99 year lease, with payments adjusted annually by the Consumer Price Index. It is possible to get mortgages on these homes, as long as the remainder of the land lease is longer than the term of the mortgage. Some homeowners have bought the land under their homes, so that they are now typical fee simple properties. Others have options to buy, but have chosen not to exercise them. A few have wanted to buy their land, but have been unable to negotiate an acceptable price with the landowner.