But my lawyer is suggesting that it can;t be done without lender's consent that the title has been transferred to a different entity and per my mortgage broker, while this is usual practice, lender wont give a written consent.

It simply wont make money at that price.  

Hardwood floors everyone loves but for a rental I would not install due to having to refinish them if renters destroy them.

This will give you 20 days to MAKE SURE there is no hiccups with your financing and will also give the sellers some comfortability that you wont cancel at the very end of a 30 or 45 day escrow. 

Man if i could pay a house off in 3 years ..... too bad these Chicago prices wont allow that. 

What options do I have before closing to ensure this person doesn't completely destroy the unit and actually leaves etc?

Being 20yrs away from taking mandatory draws and given the amount is small enough that it wont affect my tax bracket this year; I think the best choice is to invest the cash portion into a Solo 401K Roth sub-account and have it grow tax-free.As Brian mentioned: The issue is being able to separately track and manage the two sets of funds with different tax treatment.  

And hopping for the best to get a nice renter who is not going to destroy my house.

Can't take out a HELOC (150k in equity) again because the wife wont let me and the income thing discussed earlier.

Just because you wont qualify as a first time homebuyer in the future doesn't mean you cant access low money down mortgages.For an owner occupant, you can put as little as 5% down with a conventional mortgage.