If he's going to pay rent, WHY ISN"T HE HERE???

It could be residential, commercial, development, foreclosure, sales, LL/T disputes, transactional, litigation, do they do in house counsel, etc.

Unless OP is committing mortgage fraud (specifically, occupancy fraud), numbers 1 through 3 will not work. 4 could work, except OP specifically said "seller financing is not an option."

@Michael Plaks explain what you mean that a full time W2 employee who is a professional athlete can t qualify as having pro RE designation?

Also get them to commit to a 10year if possible in case you want to refinance the property as this will give you better options with a lender.  

This can be a good option if the buyer is not yet ready to commit to a mortgage but is interested in eventually owning the property.Seller financing: In a seller financing arrangement, the seller of the property provides the financing for the purchase, rather than a traditional lender.

First, you don't have the legal right to alter the property since you don't own it and you haven't even met all the closing contingencies yet since a Loan Commitment has not been issued. 

Whoever you go with look for commitment, honesty, integrity, and the long term picture.

@Paul T. as far as strategy goes, it's always better to provide rent credits to attract more lease option buyers.  

You committed mortgage fraud if you try and LTR the property.