I would be thrilled to have my place rented up the first 90 days of the year, but I also want to make sure I do my due diligence and understand what I am committing to.

A lot of people don’t like to commit to a realtor till they find the right home.

And from most of the landlords I've spoken to, the multi share is great in markets that are super competative (like Seattle) but in smaller markets the fear is that they're making it too easy for an applicatant to apply all over the place without making any commitments.

Just make sure you ask lots of questions before committing to a loan.  

I am having the same issue, the bank wants to commit half the cash-out money to pay off a car loan to qualify.

I explained I can only commit to a 6 month lease.

I chased shiny objects.What I mean by that is it took me awhile before I commited to one strategy.

I understand that in your case you tried to assure the Seller of your plan to close on a later date, but if it's not in writing, you are not committed (or is it different in Texas?). 

We have four bank commitments on this deal already with loan terms of 10+ years fixed at 4.8%-4.9% amortized over 25-30 years.

My roommate has begun his journey into real estate investing and now owns his second house in under 13 months.I would love to pitch him the idea of setting up a lease purchasing agreement with the commitment of buying the place in 2-3 years.