I've been asking him to lend directly to me at Fed rates, but we haven't been able to strike a deal.

Seems like this is another strike against condo investment if we are going to have to go under contract without full disclosure. 

It being up for rent 'for a while' sounds like the perfect opportunity to inspect and strike up the conversation of rather buy than rent. 

Murphy did strike ya @Sylvia B.!  

There are a few investor groups you can join so that you can get to meet other like minded investors and maybe even strike up some deals.

. *** You may want to JV with someone who has money on your first deal so you can strike quickly.

I have a small group of friends/investors that are ready to strike when we find a good deal locally - and every once in a while there is something.  

The option can {many would say, should} contain the future Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS), with all the terms and conditions of the future sale, laid out, as a Schedule to the Option agreement/contract.In exchange for the right to purchase the property at the {strike} price established by the option contract, an option fee is paid by the purchaser of the option to the writer/provider of the option.I would keep the two agreements separate (as if they are with two different people) and have no performance ties between them (i.e. no rent credits, no financing of the down payment, etc).  

I've met some by calling and just striking up a convo.

The value of an option can be determined and in residential transactions most don't go through the brain damage of properly valuing an option, generally it is no more than 10% of the strike price or sale price.