I find it comforting to live with someone that was referred by a friend or family member, rather than someone you find off Facebook marketplace or Zillow.

Also, there are a variety of strategies under the lease option umbrella, and this diversity gives you a greater chance of providing the seller with what they need to do the deal.

You'll provide Chinese Hand Fans to the tenants at signing? 

GREAT IDEA (Sarcasm)As Gabe pointed out, with some saving discipline that positive cash flow can provide down payment when we get a softer market.

Providence maybe?

The initial investment is providing a loan, there is no tax write off.Similiarly, there is no income recorded when you receive the loan proceeds back.The only time there may be a potential write-off of the original loan amount is if the borrower is not able to pay it back.

In essence, the best advice I can provide is know, understand .and respect the community you are serving and will go very far in this business.   

an example might be a 3 story brick building that could be replaced with a 3 story frame construction building at a lower building cost but still provide the same function.You should be revising the values based on the way your policy is written above. 

I can see that Lizz has included a leasing fee in the property analysis docs she provided, which I assume reflects the lease only service you mention.

However, it seems to simply attempt to provide the revenue side of the equation.