Assignment of Contract / Exit Option?

[John Guy]

Hi! 

My father and I have been pursing our first investment home - an off-market SFH in Rollinsford, NH. We went into it with a plan, but are considering pivoting our attention towards a property that falls into our "buy box" a little bit better.

About the Property: 

4bd, 2ba on approx. 1 acre. Signed P&S with seller for $275k, appraisal came back in at $327k. That area is appreciating rapidly and it's a good market (public schools are phenomenal). The current owner inherited the home and has let the property become distressed. His mother had a reverse mortgage on the property, and he can't afford to pay it off. It's definitely the "eye-sore" of the neighborhood - there is a brand-new residential development of about 10 SFH behind it. It is currently in the final stages of probate, with my uncle (elder law lawyer) walking us through that.

About the situation:

We don't have 20% down for a conventional loan, so our goal was to utilize my fathers FHA and I would gift him part of the down-payment. He is a contractor and very skilled at it, so we began the process of getting it to FHA standard (covering exposed wires, fixing some siding that had fallen, sheet-rocked a ceiling with old water damage, cutting grass so inspector can see septic, etc... we're about $1,500 into it). It's going to need a few more things to be FHA approved, but they're relatively minor. All the big stuff is sound (roof, windows, furnace, etc). The plan was to use his 1yr residency there to do a $25k rehab and sell afterwards. ARV is +/- $425k.

THE QUESTION:

This could be a home-run investment, but an opportunity has arose that might be a better fit for us and we wouldn't be locked into holding it for a year. WOULD I BE ABLE TO do an assignment of contract and try to find a buyer for the home that will pay $300k, & we pocket the 25k difference? Like I said, this is our first investment and we're just playing with some options and trying to learn. 

Thank you so much for your input, it's valued greatly! 

John