In Michigan, a land contract is also known as:

A lease option gives a tenant the right to purchase a property at a set price within a specified period, but the tenant has no equitable ownership interest and makes rental payments — not installment purchase payments — during the option period. This is fundamentally different from a land contract, where the buyer is making payments toward ownership from the outset.

A mortgage assumption occurs when a buyer takes over the seller's existing mortgage obligation from a third-party lender, not when the seller directly finances the buyer. In a mortgage assumption, a bank or lending institution remains the lienholder, whereas in a land contract the seller is the sole financier and retains title.

A wraparound mortgage is a junior financing instrument where a new lender (often the seller) creates a new mortgage that 'wraps around' an existing underlying mortgage, collecting payments from the buyer and forwarding the underlying loan payment. Unlike a land contract, a wraparound mortgage involves recorded mortgage liens rather than a title-retention arrangement.