The man was a fisherman and caught a fish that promised three wishes for turning it loose.

My mindset about money changed while listening do Dave Ramsey recordings that my boss had on the boat; I spent a summer fishing commercially in Alaska.

I realize how exciting it is to be on the brink of your first investment, but there are plenty of other fish in the sea here and like @Patti Robertson said if you have 200k to spend there are lots of other deals that meet and exceed minimum investing standards within that dollar range.A few foods for thought:If your friend is will to sell it to you for 200k, and it's value after he finishes fixing it up is 245k, then why not sell it to an owner/occupant outright, gather your profit (potentially 25k-ish) and find another lease option deal that the numbers work better on? 

It sounds like a fishing expedition to me.

Focus on reeling in the fish on the line and what you'll do with it once it's in hand.

Family member has 2 Airbnb's, we had recently bought this bank foreclosure for $20,000 as a fishing cabin for hubs.

The condo has the beach and the mountain house has Horse/hiking/kayack/fishing.

He would rather be fishing, and as long as money’s trickling in to put gas in the boat, keep the lights on and buy some food he’s good.

Be persistent, have all your fishing lines out there (marketing) and when you least expect “BOOMM” you get that call you’ve been waiting for and trust me you will.

If your general contractor is annoyed by this then I say move on, there are plenty of fish in the sea.1.