Using the case of the village of Villeray, on the Island of Montreal, this research note will try to demonstrate that the conventional sale of vacant lots, duly documented in registry offices, is not the only form of access to property. Another strategy, just as legal, but unnoticed by historians, was commonly used. It remains difficult to document because it rests on private understandings taking the form of contracts, sale commitments, that defines the terms of sale of said lot. Ubiquitous in Villeray, these contracts allow for payments of varying length, going up to a decade. Often, they were transferred to a third party by the original buyer to avoid losing the payments made up to then. If it allowed people of modest means to own property, this particular strategy was also quite profitable for land developer, accelerating the sale of vacant lots and allowing them to avoid land taxes, paid by the prospective buyers as part of the sale commitment.