Seeking advise on purchasing commercial land from my landlord...

[Laila Latif]

Hey guys-- 

I currently own a local small rental-arbitrage business. I am a tenant of 2 out of 4 units in a "four-plex" and I will be renting out the top 2 units this June from my landlord. With that being said, I am trying to figure out a better way to go about this, so I don't have to pay a wild amount of money on rent. 

A little background--My landlord purchased the four-plex in Feb 2020 for $805,000 and since owning it, he has gotten the property relicensed with the city and is now considered "commercial property." The market value of the four-plex is now $7.467 million. I am interested in purchasing the property and I have mentioned it to him before and he has never shut the idea down, so I know he would be open to it...however, being a small business and talking with some people, I know I will not be approved to purchase this commercial property nor do I have the money to put as a down payment. 

I was wondering if anybody was familiar with land contracts? If so, do you have any advise on how I should go about this? Or, if you don't agree with a land contract, what do you suggest I try? I want to steer away from asking the landlord to relicense the property back from commercial to residential because the vultures in the city will take it from me, so I believe by keeping it commercial, it will help me out. I just am unsure what the best way to go about this would be. I don't want to think that it is "impossible" because I believe that everything in life is possible, I just need to find the best and right way to do it! 

Open to any & all suggestions/opinions! 

Thank you in advance :-)