Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Virginia

Re: Contract for Deed Home Sale Possible?

You should, indeed, be "very concerned about the validity of the realtor's answer". Where did this person obtain her/his license to practice law and the knowledge to be mouthing expert opinion, no less, on the law(s) governing the sale and transfer of real property in the Commonwealth?

One thing you can be certain of and that is that the current "mortgage holder" who, apparently, is now the lawyer who arranged this dubious deal

in the first place, will never agree to allow

you to sell property that you don't legally own.

That's right, you don't own even a sliver of the property which you're currently occupying(and, presumably, making monthly payments on). Rather the owner of the deed now owns it all along with all right, title and interest in the property. And until you pay the complete purchase price for the property, only then can you demand that the owner convey the ownership to you----by signing the deed over to you.

This is why purchasing property via contract for deed is never a good idea as title stays with the seller until the complete purchase price has been paid by the buyer. The buyer can claim no ownerhip

rights and, therefore, no equity in the property during his long course of making monthly payments until he has finally paid the complete purchase price and has the deed to the property finally signed over to him by the seller.