I am just trying to get my head around the ideas so when I approach a RE lawyer I will feel more educated and be more efficient with my time.  

Since there is a lot more in and out involved with a rental, I am looking for an efficient way of tweaking it to meet the following goals: 1) preferably not on a separate software program.

But do care a lot about low energy bills.

@Ray Slack I tried to use the same title company for the refi closing even before any of this came about, just because I figured it would be more efficient.

For the probably $10k+ needed to bring the mortgage current plus the apparently large amount of repairs required, a lease option would be possible, but who would invest all of that time, energy and money for a home they don't even own?  

Which all takes a LOT of time and energy.

Realizing this type of rapid appreciation (or "forced equity" as some might call it) often requires a distressed or very poorly managed asset where a buyer can quickly and efficiently add value, raise NOI and convince a lender to finance the asset at the higher value.

The memorandum (some use a letter of intent) approach is considered a "soft lease option" because the memorandum is generally a non-exclusive agreement that gives the seller the ability to walk away at any time if they choose to do so (even once you've spent all your time and energy finding a buyer and the seller decides to walk away at the last minute), but also gives you the ability to gain an assignable interest via the memorandum in a way that feels less scary to a seller (and generally you can structure the terms of the memorandum to have the rental payments begin the moment you assign, so you don't have to make payments while you're trying to find someone to assign to).You can also gain an assignable interest through a "hard lease option" that is exclusive between you and the seller, and will usually require you to start making payments at a specified date.

I am currently looking into a class c 13 unit apartment made up of (6) efficiencies, (4) 1bdrms, and (3) 2bdrms.

High-efficiency furnaces?