There is already several offers from solar lease companies to lease a portion of the property. 

You are correct that prices are high, it's also good to know that 2-4 unit properties are extremely popular at the moment.

Lease-to-Own Options: Some sellers might offer a lease-to-own option where you rent the property with the intention of buying it after a set period.

If so, they can't offer 1/2 a month of rent to other agents, so no point in putting it on the MLS.Several of our Detroit market competitors play the same game on cheap owners.

Or offer a mix, like x% interest + 30% equity ownership.

Before I put a offer in I looked to see if there were any open permits, there were none.

I told them I didn't want to do the consortium deal, so they offered me another one where I would need to pay a 30k USD down payment and have an EIGHT PERCENT INTEREST RATE.

Andrea,My corporate office in in Chicago and some of the 2-4 units right now offer a good price point and cash flow. 

Easiest is offer cash for keys.

All  real estate activities fall somewhere on the spectrum, with say owning a real estate brokerage at the extreme ACTIVE BUSINESS line and investing in a REIT index fund on the PASSIVE INVESTMENT line.