He's in his 70's now and is looking to retire...I got first look from an agent I have worked with in the past and periodically talk to now and again. 

utf8=%E2%9C%93&period=&zip_code=Dallas%2C+TX&distance=25&commit=SearchOther things you will want to consider is how much of a fixer do you want to buy?

That way if owner can't lease the property back up in a reasonable period of time the lender can likely take it back and sell at break even and not a loss on the note after legal expenses.Notice to renew is spelled out in the lease.

I decided to sell and achieved 55.4% IRR over a hold period of 18 months.In other words, the capital I made selling would have took me over 30 years to make had I kept for cash flow.Cash flow gives your freedom.

The ROI I need is specific to that time period, and is based on the criteria needed from each specific timeline in my Plan.

Period.

Yet another option would be to try to work out a lease to own option where maybe you can give him some type of larger down payment now and have your "rent" go towards paying off the property over a fixed period of time (obviously lots of legal and logistical issues here).

Assuming a flip takes four months, we'd have to analyze 15 flips (and likely many flippers) over a five year period versus, say, investing in one 5 year syndicated investment...radical difference in work and risk. 

I would call the the specific city during your due diligence period to find out the rules on it. 

Assuming a 30 year mortgage, 4.5% interest rate, 2% appreciation, 0 improvement costs and about 3% for sale of the property, you'd have about $220K in hand plus cash flow, or an equity multiple of about 2.27x.Without the hold period estimate for the syndication, it's hard to compare.