It all depends on supply and demand both for the investment type and the underlying use of the property.In general though it's a fairly simple financial exercise. 

He's well-capitalized.What about her getting a heloc or home equity loan and you an option to buy you can exercise when she passes? 

But this has been only a paper exercise this far , having no experience in Apartment or Student housing is making me a bit anxious if it was a right deal. 

If you're doing a 'Lease to Own' or a Lease w/ the Option to buy known as a Lease/Option, you're really just a tenant until you exercise or complete the exit process that should laid out in your lease/contract.

The deed would be given to you by the trustee when you exercised the rights and redeemed.As far as the contract with the former owner, I would try contacting the trustee and ask what they would want to see to allow you to redeem the property.

Thanks, I didn't think about the fact that I still want the reserve built up for when I exercise the option.

It is more of an intellectual exercise and less of a art exercise6.

We encourage everyone to bring meaningful dialogue and content to the forums at BiggerPockets and not make empty posts simply as an exercise of building brand or planting keywords.

The most precise and accurate way to calculate CapEx is to:List out all CapEx items for a particular property (Roof, A/C, furnace, appliances, flooring, hot water heater, etc...).Determine the approximate lifetime and replacement cost of each item.Determine the approximate useful life remaining for each item at the property.Aggregate this information to determine a monthly reserve amount.Obviously that's a lot of work, but it's an exercise that I recommend everyone who is new goes through at least once or twice on a property before making an offer.

A good learning exercise, if nothing else.You may also run into zoning issues.