However, I think a great idea for some BiggerPockets videos would be showing an actual deal happening in progress from Josh, Brandon or others.

Once an offer is signed in massachusetts by both parties it is considered an enforceable contract.This serves as better proof the seller actually was delivered the offer and read through it.

Hopefully, someone with S.S. experience can tell us if they can still be accepting offers until the bank actually ok's a price.

But finding GOOD lease option buyers to assign to is a much more difficult task, because the reality is that 70% of people who call me on my ads are not a good fit, and likely wouldn't be able to actually exercise their "first right of purchase" on the home after I assign to them before the expiration date.

The second (actually maybe the first) discussion would be with Iredell county permits office.

It seems like a good way to get extra cash flow with very little work, plus with only 20% of these tenants actually exercising their option to buy, I'd still keep my rental house. 

If the house is actually valued at $500k why would the owners want to sell it for $300k?

Sellers do not want to go through the time, effort and exposure, or tie up their property, in a transaction that has no chance to close.There are those extremely rare cases, that become real estate legend, in which a buyer with little capital, and no borrowing capacity, is successful in convincing a seller of a large, expensive property to take him seriously and is able to perform a high wire act of raising capital from a variety of unconventional sources and actually complete the purchase.  

We must just actually use it. 

I'm actually studying for my test.