Suggestion, if you can’t buy it, please don’t tie them up with some long contract and then walk away when they no longer have time to sell to a real buyer. 

I used to think I couldn't get started in real estate investing until I had a lot more $$ saved up (most is tied up in....you guessed it, real estate), but I'm beginning to see that there are lots of other financing options and strategies.

Although it was such a good deal, we tied up a significant amount of our own money to get it off the ground.           

As this is a risk for me to tie up a chance of not selling to anyone for possibly 3 years, is it possible to "tie it up" for them, but say something like "price to be determined by appraisal at end of lease, with a minimum of $215,000" is this legal, or common?

This report identifies things like nail size, nail spacing, extra hurricane tie down, etc. and qualifies you for a corresponding discount on the hurricane portion of your premium.

A home is a pretty big investment and getting in at the wrong time could tie up my funds for quite a long time.Louis

If you are in an area that needs septic or a well, I would not allow it but if it is tied to city, I think you would be fine.

These do not come after you personally, but are tied direct to the property.

Typically tied 1-to-1 to prime, which is what goes up every time you hear on the news that "the fed raised rates again." 

A property of that price is going to be a tougher sale for a flipper since they typically stay on the market longer once completed and it's a lot of capital to tie up.