All they can say is no...or come back later when they become more motivated to sell, right?

Read it once, put it down for a while, read it again a week later and again a month later, then review periodically. 

The properties cash flowed about $1k per month.Last year, which is 14 years later from his purchases in 2004, he had to move out of his apt because his rent is now over $4k from his original $2k per month.His CT Properties cash flowed the same for the last 14 years, about $1k per month.BUT... if you considered that his rent moved up another $2k more in rent, the over all effect is that he was losing money.He is also effectively priced out of NYC and moved to a lower cost area in NJ.

I wouldn't start there though unless you want to start as a Realtor and then get into RE investing later, which is not a bad idea.

I just want to use it as an art studio or guest unit for my kids when they come...can I get permits later?

How would I set up a contract that protects my interest and will not force me to sell if they back out later. can I have them do a payment and make it non refundable if they don't have financing by the end of the term.

If there's a hole, it may be a red flag.b) sensitivity analysis: I examine all the assumptions, and make sure I can live with the worst case scenarios.c) "Stall and see": if they are getting money over multiple years, and there is no penalty for investing later, I would usually wait so I get some real performance data, versus having to look at theoretical pro forma information.d) Recession stress test: I will not invest in anything, until I subject it to recession level stress and see if I can live with the result.

So, I figured investors with more experience saw something and I offered the list price which later was accepted.

Think of all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.5.

A “creative person”, someone who didn’t post this idea on a public website, might suggest you could do a 1031 exchange in to a property (h3) that might someday, say more than a year later, become your new primary after it was a rental.