The capital gains exclusion is available to owner occupants primary residence.

You should have given written notice on the first day you became an owner and told them they must be out before February.

Quote from @Dennis McNeely: In a sandwich lease option, the investor exercises their option with the property owner to purchase the property when the tenant-buyer indicates they're ready to exercise their option and purchases the property.

I would appreciate any advice on anything I may be missing with putting this together or should neogotiate before finanlizing.Negotiated so far:Property: 9 Unit - 7 Apartments + 2 Commercial Garages (4 unit apt building + 3 unit apt building w/ commercial garage attached + standalone commercial garage on same lot)Background/Why owner is selling: A seasoned builder of 50 years, the owner purchased the property in the 1970s for around $8,000.00, later developing three apartments and two commercial structures.

With the exception of building a trailer on the property (these are hard to finance), this sounds like a good plan AND if you are using it for your business AND your business pays more than 50% of the rent (if you have more than 1 tenant), then this is a more financeable property in the eyes of banks and credit unions as it would be consider a commercial "owner-occupied" property. 

@Chantelle LewisRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

2) If you do owner-occupied cashout refi for best rate, you technically have to live in the home for 12 months before renting it out. * Some responders here may suggest not worrying about that and renting it out anyways.

Employees won’t think exactly like owners, but tying bonuses to behaviors and KPIs they can influence is key.Focus on metrics like tenant retention, minimizing vacancy days, and timely maintenance resolution.

It comes down to how each county handles property tax valuation.To put it in generic terms - a title company & lender will base your initial mortgage payment on the property taxes of the previous owner.  

Found an awesome deal on Craigslist and it allowed me to get my foot in the door with an investor (owner of the property I arbitraged.)