First question is if the seller owns it free and clear. You don't want to find yourself ambushed by him defaulting on debt that is secured by the property

You should be taking title to the land with a title policy with the owner having a lien against it. Most of the pitfalls are from the seller/owner side.

Separate it into two decisions. One to buy the land and one to use him for financing.

Owner finance can actually be a great arrangement and potentially save some you some $. Make sure to have the purchase agreement reviewed BEFORE it is signed. You should also get title insurance as any issues (tax liens, prior liens, etc.) will show up after the examination of title and can be reviewed to make sure all is in order.

Oh no, certain aspects of those laws were designed to stop the predators from taking advantage of the lower class on a mass scale, and it was happening. I worked for a man who wears an Aggie ring when I was in college (before Dodd Frank) who made a lot of money doing owner financing, taking advantage of the poor, setting crazy high interest rates, then foreclosing and doing it all over again. He easily had over a hundred of these owner financed deals himself. The first time he sent me to deliver a foreclosure notice I had no idea what I was taking part in. By the third time, I told him I wasn't doing that anymore and he could fire me if he wanted. A few weeks later my landlord was telling me that he went to church with the guy, and I laughed out loud and said "that dude doesn't go to church." Like Jesus said: Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.