Naturally that would incur lawyer fees.On principle I don't want to pay this guy off but as a business it might just be a smart thing to do as a cost of doing business. 

If you attempted doing that as a real estate licensee, that would be an ethics violation that could put you in hot water and wind up costing you hundreds to thousands of dollars in fines. 

You pay for things as a convenience doesn't mean someone needs to be a sucker on one side long as its a fair price and done ethically. 

Dave's principles are great for getting your personal finances on track.  

If you get a loan as an owner occupant, you can't "convert it" later by paying toward principle.  

Kind of illustrative of the principle that you're better off buying quality properties that have the potential to appreciate.  

I couldn't ethically in good conscious post some of the calls I've had.

@Alfred Clarke Jr The principle that is so critical here is that you communicate to the person what you can do for them not what they can do for you.   

I would like to suck up 5-7 years for large monthly payments to just payoff the principle and be done. 

While some would hope they don't get caught during the option time period, the ethical thing to do would be to approach the loan holder and get approval to continue with the status quo until the option exercised.