The rules that you cited seem to corroborate my thoughts: "(A) A non-lawyer shall not furnish to another for compensation, direct or indirect, advice or service under circumstances which require his use of legal knowledge or skill in the application of any law, federal, state or local, dealing with taxes, except:(2) A certified public accountant or a person duly enrolled may practice before the Internal Revenue Service, as those terms are defined by the then applicable federal regulations and the extent permitted therein.(4) A non-lawyer may render such advice or service incident to an engagement to provide products or services which he is otherwise authorized to provide, where such advice or service arises out of the providing of such other products or services and was not the principal purpose of the engagement."

Why not just have the lease effective from the 3rd?

Good question as to population.Demographics effects value and marketing time. 

Jokes would be a great way to break the ice but I'm more worried about what they don't say/think and how that'll effect their selling decision.

This is a HUGE plus - and it effectively solves the problem, as long as you're willing to verify the currency of the data. 

You will receive an Addict award along with a habito; as well as learning and retaining useful real estate information without struggling.Bigger Pockets has various resources: ebooks, blogs, forums, podcasts, webinars, colleagues, keyword alerts, an awards system, a learn section, informative people in many fields of real estate, and more.We are considered to be the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with so connect with REIA meetings, accountability partners, and mastermind groups to engage with individuals interested in real estate investing.At the bottom of this page is a list with help in it.

You will receive an Addict award along with a habit; as well as learning and retaining useful real estate information without struggling.Bigger Pockets has various resources: ebooks, blogs, forums, podcasts, webinars, colleagues, keyword alerts, an awards system, a learn section, informative people in many fields of real estate, and more.We are considered to be the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with so connect with REIA meetings, accountability partners, and mastermind groups to engage with individuals interested in real estate investing.At the bottom of this page is a list with help in it.

The BRRR is a pretty straight forward and simple way to effectively design a zero down deal.  

You will receive an Addict award along with a habit; as well as learning and retaining useful real estate information without struggling.We are considered to be the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with so connect with REIA meetings, accountability partners, and mastermind groups to engage with individuals interested in real estate investing.At the bottom of this page is a list with help in it.

He responded and seemed more than welcome to talk and help in any way he could.He's very busy, so once I am able to engage with him I want to use the time wisely.