Easy and cost effective, this is best for an attorney to draft and record.

On the outside of the envelope will be a paper that says something to the effect of "If you refer someone to me to rent a house, I will pay you a commission of 1/2 of the second weeks rent." 

That would effectively drop your down payment to 4%.This is likely only going to work with a small, local bank, and a seller who's pretty motivated and/or business savvy, though!

I've also had the opposite happen where the bank did let the buyer walk and the property languished for months back on the market.If you used a standard contract, there should be a clause that states that the seller is to maintain the property in the same condition throughout the contract period.

Then maintaining transparency within the sale and understand what I am legally allowed to do(or not do) without a license. 

(assuming a corporate tax election has not been made)Except now you have costs to maintain this structure.Single member LLCs are generally for legal liability protection, not tax savings.

Most will have language to the effect that you cannot disclose or discuss any data or information that is deemed proprietary to the disclosing party and that which is not generally known to the public.If you want to talk numbers here on BP hypothetically, I think you would be fine since numbers are not "proprietary".

It's basically the Pygmalian Effect which is something I certainly believe in.  

You owe it to your tenants to maintain the properties they live in, and this could mean making expensive repairs at a moments notice.

There are different kinds of options, the option detailed above is a "European Option" (has nothing to do with Europe) where the right to purchase becomes effective over a short period or on a date in the future.