I am a Texan who, two years ago, took the paper back on the sale of a
house that I owned free and clear. I made the buyers a PI loan. Now
they want to move. What do I owe them? Just their total equity? Their
equity plus something for appreciation of the property? I'm confused.
It was their decision that they move, not mine. It's not a foreclosure
(though they do owe some back taxes) I'd like the house back but do I
need to "buy" what I mostly own anyway?. They have a realtor who says
I do.

i'd like to help you but i'm a bit confused too. unless i'm missing
something here and i may well be, your statement seems to say, you
owned a property free and clear. you sold the property to a second
party and as part of that transaction you served as a lending
institution for them. probably saving them time and money because i'm
guessing you didn't charge any points, loan origination fees,
applications fees or the like.

be that as it may, at this point, they own the property and owe the
lender,you, the remaining balance on the mortgage. why would you owe
them anything? if they would like to move, assuming no restrictive
covenents to the contrary, they are free to sell the property. at the
time of sale they are obligated to pay the back taxes and pay the
lender in full. the lender in this case is you. if they sell for more
than they owe, they get to keep that. it's theirs. if they sell for
less than they owe, then they still have to pay the lender, you again,
in full anyway. when you own assets sometimes you win and sometimes
you lose. if they don't pay the taxes the taxing authority will
eventually take the property. if they don't pay the lender, that's you
again, then the lender can foreclose and take the property. in the
case of foreclosure for lack of payment, they don't get anything. not
the house, not their equity, not any appreciation. i seem to be
missing the part where you owe them anything ever. doesn't mean it's
not there but if it is it has escaped me.

Thanks, elwtee. You understood my question completely. I guess the
realtor is confusing the buyers and trying to treat this transfer of
ownership as a "sale". I was getting confused myself, questioning my
own perceptions, since I am new at this mortgage business. You
confirmed what I thought all along.