This means no extra rent applied towards a downpayment (which is financing) as part of the lease and no rent incentives tied to the exercise of the purchase option.you need to ensure your tenant / buyer is capable of affording the house and obtaining a mortgage (from a traditional lender) when/if they exercise the purchase option;the option consideration could be the downpayment (this may no longer be true under Dodd-Frank and/or SAFE act ... best to ask someone like @Bill Gulley) in which case you do not want to make it too large (3 - 5%).  

In addition to the wonderful advice and resources given, I'd like to add that one of the first things you can do (with little to no experience) are answer the following questions (actually put the pen to paper though or else the exercise is moot).1.

But the seller balked and wanted 10k down...That's not an option or a deal (when I'm pretty sure offering them 15k would buy it outright).I'm planning on meeting with a Hard Money lender tomorrow, but I'm not sure they'll play ball with a cloudy title.  

MLS is great source for all properties that are for sale , you need to make low ball offers every day like 65% minus repairs and see what could be accepted,  right . submitting 20,30 offers daily is big task and must be automated somehow .if you would submit 100 ridiculous offers you might get one accepted which is not bad , but you need this machine first and system that produce accurate offers based on ARV, estimated repairs or upgrade based on square feet.   

He indicated that everyone that contacted him were giving low-ball offers and that told me wholesalers were already contacting him.

Benefits: The listing Brokers are thus able to keep in the good graces of their owners by offering a solution to empty house cash flow problems while creating some income from rentals and the potential for future commissions when the Options are exercised.

As an exercise, he said write down what you imagine life like as an investor.  

(So I am trying to exercise the ACTION items I heard on the Podcast the other day.  

I'm pretty hype about investing as well, maybe we can network, brainstorm and get this ball rolling!

www.realestatereporter.comDoes this site accurately or at least in the ball park with its numbers.