In contrast to the usual property/contract divide, § 425I of the Civil Code provides that the lessee still can claim rights under the lease contract against the buyer of the leased property. Most scholars attribute this exceptional provision to protecting the weaker party, i.e., the lessee. This paper draws upon a point contained in an earlier Supreme Court decision and develops a perspective of protecting long-term investment. Based on the thesis that the absence of in rem rights would increase transaction costs and reduce the volume of transactions, this paper attempts to explain why the lessee needs the in rem rights to protect his long term investment. As the range of in rem rights provided in the Civil Code is severely restricted because of the numerus clausus principle in property law, this provision has the capacity to stop the gap. However, an appropriate notice system should be attached to prevent transaction costs from increasing in fire sale market, otherwise the benefits gained in the lease market would not compensate the loss incurred in the sale market. With this theory in mind, this paper sets out to explain some puzzling court decisions and argues that the principle of "like cases should be treated alike" should not be invoked to deem the contract of loan for use or the contract of sharing among co-owners as equivalents of the contract of lease.