This is an action for the specific performance, or in the alternative, for damages, for breach of an option contract for thе purchase of real estate. The District Court found for the plaintiff on the basis that a valid enforceable option existed and assessed damages against the defendants.
The plaintiff, Commuter Developments and Investments, Inc., is a corporation engaged in oil well promotion and lаnd development. In 1965 the plaintiff purchased the land in question for $700 an acre. In 1971 the parties commenced a series of transactions involving the north 49 acres of the property.
On April 19, 1971, the plaintiff gave Leonard Gramlich, one of the defendants, a note for $10,000. Leonard, a real estate salesman, took a second mortgage on the property and also received a “firm listing for sale” of the real estate.
On May 5, 1971, the plaintiff gave a second note to Leonard, this note being for $5,000. Chronologically the next matter of significance occurred on July 31, 1971. The presidеnt of the plaintiff corporation wrote a letter to the board of directors stating that he planned to sell the real estate with a 5-yeаr repur *571 chase option “as previously discussed.”
On August 1, 1971, the defendants executed the option in question. Leonard then gave the plaintiff a check dated August 2, 1971, for $15,000 as part of the sales price. The plaintiff executed a quitclaim deed to a small portion of the property and on October 18, 1971, executed a corpоration warranty deed to the balance of the land. The deeds were notarized on October 18, 1971, and filed on November 17, 1971. On November 23, 1971, Leonard рaid plaintiff $2,283.83. Cancellation of two notes for $15,000 was part of the purchase price of the property.
On May 31, 1974, the defendants sold the land tо third parties for $1,200 an acre. The plaintiff attempted to exercise the option on May 3, 1976, and upon defendants’ refusal to honor the option, this litigation ensued.
The original option was not produced at trial. Plaintiff’s witness testified that it was lost and he could not find it. A copy of the option wаs admitted by the trial court and, in addition, the trial judge admitted testimony as to the intent of the parties surrounding the transaction.
The defendants first contend the triаl court erred in admitting the option into evidence. Defendants urge that no consideration existed for such option and that the one dollar consideration recited in the option was never paid. Under the general principles of contract law, the consideration for an option may consist of some benefit to the promisor, some loss to the promisee, or some money or other thing of value given, paid, or еxchanged. 77 Am. Jur. 2d, Vendor and Purchaser, § 35, pp. 215, 216. A consideration for an agreement to become a binding contract requires a benefit on onе side or a detriment on the other. Grady v. Denbeck,
The consideration in this case is apparent. The *572 terms of the option provided for a repurchase by the plaintiff at the original sales price plus a 10 percent raise in evaluation each year for the 5 years the option was to exist. In addition, the defendants received аn additional $15,000 in oil interests which they still retain. The defendants collected the rents from the property and Leonard paid himself a commission upоn the sale of the land from plaintiff.
The plaintiff benefited by getting out of debt, by cancellation of the outstanding notes to defendants, and by eliminating the second mortgage, but suffered a detriment of 10 percent appreciation to the value of the property each year. In addition the evidence is clear that the plaintiff would not have deeded the land in question to the defendants without the option.
The defendants further contend the trial court erred in admitting the copy of the option into evidence, over timely objections, under the best evidence rule. Section 27-1003, R. R. S. 1943, provides: “A duplicate is admissible to the same extent as an original unless (1) a genuine question is raised as to the authenticity of the original or (2) in the cirсumstances it would be unfair to admit the duplicate in lieu of the original.” The record discloses there is no question as to the authenticity of the oрtion agreement itself. The defendant, Leonard Gramlich, admitted the instrument bore the signatures of both defendants. Under section 27-1004, R. R. S. 1943, the burden was on the plаintiff to show that the original of the option was lost or destroyed and the testimony of the plaintiff’s president establishes that the original was looked fоr but could not be found. We cannot say under the circumstances that it was error to admit the duplicate copy into evidence.
Defendants next contend the trial court erred in finding that on the date of the option agreement, the defendants were the owners of the tract in question. While it is true that on August 2, 1971, the plaintiff *573 had by quitclaim deed conveyed 4.65 acres of the premises to the defendants, which consisted of a railroad right-of-way, the mаjor portion, or 44.35 acres, of the tract was not conveyed until October 18, 1971, by warranty deed. Such a finding is neither crucial nor controlling to the deсision rendered by the trial court. It is not necessary to the validity of the option agreement that the title rest in the party giving the option.
In Phillips Petroleum Co. v. City of Omaha,
Defendants contend the trial court erred in finding
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that the option was not waived, surrendered, abandoned, or merged into the deeds given by plaintiff to the defendants. There was an obvious conflict in the evidence as to the intent of the parties in these respects. Our review is subject to the rule that when crediblе evidence on material questions of fact is in irreconcilable conflict, this court will consider the fact that the trial court observed the witnesses and their manner of testifying and accepted one version of the facts rather than the other. Booth v. Wilkinson,
We conclude the assignments of error and the contentions made thereunder are without persuasive support in the record and the judgment of the District Court was correct.
Affirmed.