Looking at a specific home and not sure which it's on? **Reach out and I'll pull the land status** before you write an offer.
What is fee land vs. lease land?
Fee land (fee simple) is full ownership of the home and the dirt under it. You pay property taxes on both, and when you sell, you transfer everything.
Lease land (leasehold) splits the two: you buy the structure, but the land stays titled to its owner — in the Coachella Valley, almost always the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. You pay an annual lease (ground rent) for the remaining term of the lease.
Why the Coachella Valley has so much lease land
When the federal government granted railroad right-of-way through the desert in the 1870s, it handed the Agua Caliente Band deeded ownership of every other square-mile section across roughly 52,000 acres of the valley — about 6,700 acres inside Palm Springs itself.
The result is a literal checkerboard: in much of Palm Springs, even-numbered sections are lease land and odd-numbered sections are fee land. Two beautiful homes a few blocks apart can be on completely different ownership structures — which is why "is this fee or lease?" is one of the first questions a desert buyer should ask.
The money
What lease land actually costs
Because you're buying only the structure, comparable lease-land homes typically run 15–30% less than fee-land equivalents.
Lease payments commonly range from about $1,500 to $7,000+ per year, depending on the property and lease.
You're taxed on the structure's value, not the land — so your tax bill is usually lower than a comparable fee home.
Lease rents can be renegotiated and reset at scheduled points. A bargain today can carry a rent step-up later — always read the reset schedule.
Financing a lease-land home
Lease land is financeable, but the rules are stricter. Interest rates are generally the same as on fee land, but not every lender will lend on lease land — you need one experienced with Coachella Valley leasehold.
Lease term matters most. Lenders typically require the remaining lease term to extend at least ~5 years beyond the loan term. A 30-year loan on a lease with 20 years left is a problem. Many local leases run long (often 99-year terms), but what counts is the *remaining* term on *your* specific property.
Before you write an offer
The lease-land checklist
- Confirm fee vs. lease status in writing.
- Get the remaining lease term and the rent-reset schedule.
- Get the current annual ground rent and any scheduled increases.
- Confirm your lender finances lease land and that the term clears the +5-year rule.
- Factor the annual lease into your true monthly cost — not just the lower price tag.