A lord might "sell" some of his serf families to another lord looking to populate new territories, or families would simply sneak away in the night. To attract famers to clear and cultivate these new lands, the owners had to offer financial inducements. Thus a serf coming in would be come a tenant farmer, not a serf, and would be in a better position to eventually buy his land. The Germans moved thousands of serfs to new lands in Eastern Europe and within all parts of Europe there were nobles eager to put vacant land under cultivation (thus increasing their wealth.)