The lease payments do not go towards the purchase of the house, so renters still need to be able to save money and qualify for a mortgage if they exercise the option to buy.

You need to put in the improvements that will enhance your ARV.  

@Kalin Stocker, I had that negative cash flow for 36 months on a Lease Option... tenant-buyer said he planned to exercise early, but waited until the very last day to close!

And if not, I could exercise the owner financing extension.

They may have been planning to negotiate a lower rate with you, instead of exercising their option.

In my book, there are four rules to (real estate) success:Overcome inertia to get in the game by take consistent productive actionDon't do things that could take you out of the game with a single bad moveDo things to extend and enhance your gameplay Create a system to get better, in some aspect, every dayYou've already demonstrated that you are all over Rule #1, so it's time to consider #2 and #3!

Renters get scammed quite easily by providing their sensitive information or even doing things like wiring deposits, or even simply doing things that may not be a matter of exercising good judgement — but that can happen when thinking about something like a new home.

That fact alone tells me I should use this only as a learning exercise and to stay far away, but if any of you good folks would be so kind as to offer your thoughts and opinions, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks MelThis is just a hypothetical exercise running the numbers on a listed property as a way  to help me understand (as an newbie and outsider) how the BP tool works and how the numbers stack up. 

It can enhance a brand’s image and maintain the consumer’s trust.