Properties with mortgages are not easier to sell nor are you able to cut and run for fewer dollars.

I disagree with this...Many "retail" contractors will charge twice as much per hour of labor than their investor-focused counterparts, but those retail contractors will bill many fewer hours overall (their homeowner customers provide much less repeat business and many fewer referrals than investors do) and the retail contractors will tend to have lower margins, as they need to keep up appearances (nice trucks, Yellow Pages ads, website, customer service support, etc).So, while I'm sure there are exceptions, in my experience, good investor-focused contractors don't make much less (and sometimes make MORE) than their retail counterparts.What if you could find a local contractor service that manged contractors based on customer satisfaction ratings you provided as reviews....There are a lot of details here that you'll find are VERY difficult to overcome when scaling this type of business.

I won’t say this is not a legitimate way to transfer ownership, but local city ordinances aside, I can’t see a more dangerous way to purchase a property than by buying its associated LLC.How is one assured there are no pending or potential lawsuits, unaccounted for members, or a prior/simultaneous sale?

As a cash-flow investor there is a danger for me in assuming away expenses and falling victim to the "this particular property is different" trap.Sam

So IF the deal makes sense, any advice on how I could find boiler plate lease option documents quickly without leaving myself dangerously exposed or should I bite the bullet and call my lawyer Monday AM?

Well I agree with John Jackson and Bill Gulley.I think its a mistake to think SLOs are easy in this new SAFE Act and CFPB arena.Not easy does not mean impossible or dangerous, just be informed of the risks, and treat everyone well, especially the TBer (coaching before they go in the property with a licensed Mortgage Broker with credit and FICO).John Jackson has a great FICO coach as do I that also does mortgage origination.

Not dangerous, but not desirable.

If you do what is customary in your area you'll have fewer issues and you can be confident in what you do.

Also: I would not expect or ask tenants to clean gutters...that seems way too dangerous. 

Especially dangerous in a rising market!!