When telecommunications companies need to build additional cellular phone towers they often need to do so on private property and pay the landowner a fee to do so. They do so through a ground lease agreement which is usually signed over a long term.
Under the terms of these agreements the landowner is compensated for the use of their land through monthly rent payments. In some cases landowners may choose to sell the lease agreement they have to a ground lease acquisition company for a lump sum: these are called cell tower lease buyouts.
The lump sum paid for a buyout is usually a substantial amount of money reflecting the potential amount that could be paid over the life of the agreement. It is, however, usually less than the total value of the monthly payments that would be made over the full lease term.
