Lease to Own (LTO)

Lease to own turns a domain sale into a payment plan. The buyer pays monthly, usually for one to five years, gets to use the domain from day one, and owns it outright after the final payment. Miss a payment and the domain goes back to the seller.

Dan.com made it mainstream, and it's now a standard option on Afternic, Atom and through Escrow.com's domain holding service. The platform holds the domain in its own account during the term, so neither side has to trust the other.

It sells domains that wouldn't sell otherwise. A startup that can't write a $15,000 check can often handle $500 a month, and sellers frequently get a higher total price for the convenience. The cost is patience. You're a landlord for a couple of years, and a fair share of buyers stop paying before the end.