Once the option is exercised, the property sells. 

@Benjamin CowlesYou can have the tenant be responsible for general maintenance (lawn care and such) and minor repairs on plumbing and appliances.It would make more sense for the owner to be responsible for roof/door/siding/HVAC replacements because those are capitalized items for your cost basis for depreciation and if the option is ever exercised...

This will be a good exercise for me to gain familiarity to running CMAs and analyze deals…..and I’m a total dork for this stuff. 

This way you have tied up the property and have control over it, but do not have to purchase it/close on the purchase until you are ready at which time he would exercise the option to buy and then proceed to close on the purchase.

You make your money when you buy...you realize your profit when you exercise your exit strategy down the road.If you do anything now, rationalizing on future events you have no control over, that will recover your loss (overpay) at purchase, you lose.  

It may get you absolutely nowhere (I'm sure the Austin market is flooded with mailers), but I think it's a good exercise to do some of your own marketing and go "on the hunt."  

As An exercise I tried to to some due diligence and Title research on Property Radar From where I live in Denver.

Hi, yas, i can do a sampling exercise, just wondering if this had been done before so i dont need to reinvent the wheel.

If you want to lose weight, eat less and exercise more; if you want to buy properties, make relationships, analyze deals, and take risks.

That window of time would also allow me to "get my feet wet" and learn whether I even like this kind of investing.To compare the ROI of investing gains from the sale now vs. after 2 years, I'll have to crunch some numbers... an exercise that's left to this reader :) If I can get connected with a property management group that I like a lot and the numbers look at least a little favorable, I might give this whole thing a try.