It is sad that I exercised every option I could meeting several times with (both individually and together) the building inspector, the building official, my city councilman, the city administer, and the mayor to try and prevent an escalation that would involve lawyers.  

Thank you, I’m exercising one last lending  option before having to go that route.

. - Your option strike price can be set in advance so that you capture appreciation and mortgage paydown- Upon exercising your option, you can purchase subject to his existing mortgage (assuming you like the terms)- You can offer to make his mortgage payment for him each month while you lease which makes things passive for him.- You may need to find a private investor for the remodeling funds.

Has either party given proper notice to renew, or to exercise an option to renew?

Since it is a fixer-upper that is also adding another layer of risk when it comes time to exercise the option.

However, she does work with stock options and recently help a friend of mine when he exercised his options. 

It wasn't until I exercised my risk muscle by buying a few single-family rentals, and then educated myself on self-storage enough to be of value to an experienced storage partner. 

Unlike buyers who can cancel and forfeit their escrow deposit (or not, if exercising a contingency), the seller doesn't have the right to back out. 

Just as an exercise, if for right now. 

I'm treating this challenge as an exercise to expand my knowledge base as an amateur investor, not a professional.