He was a complete sociopath.No matter your application questions, screening techniques and lease lingo, you will ALWAYS learn and need to adapt.

@Stephen Diaz I am in the same boat as you are currently and the way I solved my issue was I went through a hard money lender and then took out a secured personal loan to come up with the down payment.

Here is the ONLY way I would hold it...If you do not have any other good applicants that can take the unit sooner, I would take a non-refundable binder payment equal to one-month's rent NOW, then all of the move-in fees (first/last/security/pet fees) when you sign the lease for October 1st, which should be within a week. 

Yes, @Jim @Jim Cummings, what I mean by $1M is based on my liquidity I can secure upto $1M or little over that, of agency debt.

If they have to leave sooner, tell them that they'll be responsible for rent until you're able to secure a new tenant. 

Great opportunity to practice some creative financing techniques and acquire more real estate:1031's are great - I've done several ---- put what I am reading - if you are only paying $6,000 in taxes, that's nothing!

If you will be forming this corporation/venture with more than 2-3 partners, your are wandering into the realm of the securities folks and you will absolutely need the services of experienced counsel. 

Also, in the event there is damage to the premises that the current owner is not aware of, how do I know what the condition of the property was prior to the tenants moving in or if they are trying to recoup their security deposit by claiming that the damage was there prior to the tenants moving in?

No, but I once had a someone break into one of my properties by pulling the power meter in order to bypass a security system.

Pitch your development to potential customers and just make sure the lease language has a poison pill that will let you out if the project doe snot secure financing.