Renter opportunity to purchase the home

[Heather R.]

I am in a rental home for 3 years now and asked the owner if he was interested in selling and he said yes.

I got him down to $240K and said he would do a regular sale or lease-to-own option.

The homes in my neighborhood are going up. The latest home that is the same model as mine, but more updated and sold 2 weeks ago for $350K. The listing was for $325K and apparently, there was a bidding war with several buyers. Another just sold for $240K for a 2/2 with minimal upgrades like mine.

I am not in a position to give a down payment due to certain circumstances that are taking place this year. What would be the best options for me? He is pretty flexible from what I'm gathering. He also has $3,000 of my security. I have good relationships with people on the HOAto which one is my neighbor/friend. I also have 2 friends who are real estate attorneys, but haven't discussed the situation until I know where I'm going with it. I really don't want to stay in this house if I have a choice. I think it would a good flip as an option and considering the price and having instant equity it sounds like a win-win situation OR I maybe I can rent it out if I do the lease-to-own and charge $500-600 more than I'm paying in rent now.

I want to jump on this ASAP since the price is so low.