Lease Option Purchase....Assignment of Contract, etc....If I understand....first find a property..... preferably FSBO.... work out a deal with the seller where I give the seller X $ amount such as $4000 plus a monthly payment .... and the option for X amount of time........at this point does the lease option gets recorded or how do I protect myself from the transaction?.....

I don't think the question was about the investment as much as the analysis process.When I run a projection like this, I like to make it kind of a "what to expect in the first year" scenario.I also include projected tax benefits, equity buildup (amount of principle paid) and somtime include some estimation of appreciation.So, using your numbers (and a couple of my own assumptions), this is what I get:Your Assumptions:Purchase Price $250,000.00Down Payment $50,000.00Loan Term 30 yearsLoan Rate 7.80%Yearly Income $33,495.00Yearly Expenses $11,412.00My assumptions:Property Appreciation3.00%Buyer's Tax Bracket30.00%Depreciation- Land 20.00% Building 65.00% over 27.5 years Personal Property 15.00% over 5 years1st Year Benefits:Cash Flow$33,495.00Income-$11,412.00Expenses=$22,083.00Net Operating Income $1,439.74Monthly Payment*12Months=$17,276.89Debt Service $22,083.00Net Operating Income-$17,276.89Debt Service=$4,806.11Cash FlowTax Shelter$22,083.00Net Operating Income-$5,909.09Building Depreciation-$7,500.00Personal Property Depreciation-$15,538.73Interest Paid$-6,864.82Taxable Income / Loss $-6,864.82Taxable Income / Loss*30.00%Tax Bracket $2,059.45Total Tax Effect (You save this much in the first year on your taxes...)EquityIn the first year's payemts, $1,738.16 of principle will be paid.AppreciationA property worth $250,000.00 whose value increases by 3.00% per yer will increase in value by $7,500.00 in the first year.Total BenefitCash Flow + Shelter + Equity Increase + Appreciation = $16,103.7132.21% return on down paymentIf you don't like to include Appreciation, then you getCash Flow + Shelter + Equity Increase = $8,603.7117.21% return on down payment

Is there a posibility that perhaps one or more of the seasoned investors were to write an article on how to do a Lease Option transaction....outlining all the steps from beginning to end?

Cash is king.In commercial real estate the transactions involve larger dollar amounts than most residential properties.

A sign in the yard has always been the most effective for me, definitely the most cost effective by about 30:1.

Make a whole lot of friends around the world and of course do transaction with all of you too.Wesley, if you need to pick at my brain i'm here....

I'm happy for your first transaction.

But it's a great way to gain access to mls and juggle commissions on sale and purchase transactions.

From what I understand one must be a licensed entity, an actual participant or contracted by one of the participants to the transaction in order to appear on the HUD-1 statement.

For example set a goal to earn $7,000 to $10,000 per month then decide how many transactions and what dollar amount it will take to achieve that goal.