My husband and I are interested in purchasing a cabin with land but it's in pretty bad shape and can not be financed. We don't have the cash - only to purchase it outright. I was wondering if the owner could gift the cabin and sell just the land so that a bank can finance the loan to purchase property. We live in Cali.

It won't make any sense to a lender - it will be just a loan for land regardless of how the cabin is conveyed. A loan for land is totally different from a loan for a habitable house with land. If you want to live in a trailer for 5 years (depending on zoning laws in that town) while you build, the lender will probably require a building loan on top of the land price, with the funds for the new house paid directly to the builder. So there's no creative way to finance this unless you can prove to a lender that you can afford to live elsewhere and own land, or build on this land. Lending is still very tight. These are all questions you ask some lenders until you find one willing to take the risk.

The cabin is not separate from the land. And is not sold that way.
If the land is worth the price, asked, the bank can give loan, just on value of land, not even considering a building on it.