Unique Situation - Need Expert Advice

[Eric Rodriguez]

Good Afternoon everyone,

Im currently looking for my second property and have been toying with the idea of using a option contract to buy my next property. Im 26 years old and I still live at home. Ive purchased my first single family home which was a fixer upper (440k, detached home in Staten Island NY) back in September, put about 20k in it and now I rent it out for 2,000 a month to my aunt. Throughout that process I used a lawyer who was a family friend and he is currently looking to move out of his own house. He lives very close to my rental property and the home is in a prestigious area where the property prices are upwards of 600-800k. I absolutely love his home and I would actually want to move into the house sometime in the future when i begin to start a family (something im not ready for yet). My first property was purchased in all cash, and I have been in contact with a loan officer to secure a cash out refinance for future prospects. However, i don't want to completely extract the full amount of money out of my first home and tie up all my money just yet. Im currently a police officer, not yet at full pay within my pay scale and im not married yet. I have no expenses at the moment other than my car insurance and i really wanted to expand upon creating a larger real estate portfolio, but i also would love to have this house for my future. Hence i was looking into establishing something with my lawyer (whose house it is) in regards to a contract to fully execute at a later date. Ive contacted a few real estate agents within the area and have had fairly similar comps to give me an idea of what would be a reasonable price for his home and most of the other homes within his area are going for 625k-650k with similar specifications. i discussed with him a price of 560k for his house which would be a relatively good deal for this area and a beautiful location for me to start a family somewhere in the future. However, i know hes looking to get rid of the home quicker than i probably anticipate to make those decisions. I would like to secure an earnest money deposit on some sort of contract to buy the home at a later date at a fixed price. Is there any advice or steps i should take to make this a seamless process? Keep in mind this individual i would be buying the house from would be my lawyer and he would attempt to make this as fair as possible as he is a family friend who my parents have known their entire lives. He wouldn't have to use an agent to list the property (saving on commission) and I know deep down he would be happy to have given the house to someone he has known his entire life.

Any advice or constructive instruction would be greatly appreciated,