(Meaning you can control real estate by buying an option to purchase it later and exercise the option when the time is right)

Collect a $10,000 option fee (36 month option)$70,000 option priceMonthly rent increase to $800/mo....contribute $30/mo. to purchase price to justify the rent increase.Everything else remains constant$6,500 cash on the front end$10,000 on the back end if they exercise the option...if not, plan B...Thoughts?

You could then exercise the option and realize the gain or you could sell the option.  

But again, exercise control, don't buy a boat.Using a HELOC to get rid of PMI would be a smart move, assuming the HELOC rate is reasonable.

I went through the exercise on my Summerlin townhouse.. 

Predicting the future based on the past is an exercise in futility.Also this topic has been discussed ad-nauseam on the forums.

Plus 3 months rent for early possession paid up front until the close, separate from the earnest money deposit.So we lost one months rent but it was worth the exercise & we did meet a lot of interesting people from so many walks of life, all struggling to find a home.

But the seller's perspective is probably such that the information you are asking for is due diligence information and is exactly the type of information they would share to someone who is already under contract and is conducting their due diligence to determine if they want to exercise their option or not.Good luck!  

The thing about pit bulls, is they are high energy-- they need a lot of exercise,..

I would add that forced appreciation is appreciation too that is not dependent on market conditions ... and any sort of appreciation can be tapped at any time without selling via cash out refinance ... any market bubble pop tends to be temporary and a small blip in the longterm trend, unless you are not financially stable enough to hold through a downturn or think that prices would pop and never recover, in which case you probably shouldn't be owning in that market at all ... appreciation also shows up in ROI perhaps even as you define it and even without tapping equity as rents increase and if you calculate your "I" based on your total actual costs (based on your purchase price) and not current market value ... finally, I would say that I still care tremendously about long term appreciation and my resulting equity position, even if I don't plan to sell or cash out refinance, as it gives me a whole lot more exit strategies and options, which makes my investment less risky and more robust even if I don't choose to exercise these options ...