After seven years of carrying a seller note, I finally collected the last payment yesterday. I didn't expect to feel this way , it's not joy exactly, more like a weight I'd gotten used to carrying is suddenly gone. The business sold years ago, but that note kept me tied to it, kept me checking in, kept me worrying about whether the buyer would default. Now it's done. I'm not looking for advice, just wanted to put it somewhere that people would understand.
Seller Financing
Collecting my final note payment brought total closure to my exit journey
Seven years is a long time to stay exposed. Did you have any close calls with late payments during that stretch, or was it mostly steady?
I get the closure part. People talk about the sale as The finish line, but when you're holding paper the finish line moves. Congratulations on getting there.
Curious what made you decide to carry a note that long instead of selling it off to a third party. Not second-guessing, just genuinely interested in the reasoning.
i ask because we carried a note on a commercial property and had one buyer miss two payments in year three. It worked out but it aged me. Anyway, glad yours is over.
The tie to the business is the part that doesn't get discussed enough. Even if you don't have any operational role, the note keeps a thread between you and someghing that's no longer yours. That's its own kind of stress.
Six years left on mine. This is encouraging to read, even if it's bittersweet.
I'll say this much: if I had to do it over, I'd probably sell the note earlier. Different situation, but the mental load was more than I priced in.
What are you doing with the freed-up mental space? I found I kept going back to check on things out of habit even after the note was satisfied.