The reason lease options get a bad reputation is exactly what you described, people structure them in a way where the economic outcome improves when the buyer fails.

I will also have a VA loan from the air national guard and tri-care for extremely reduced price health care.With this I have the chance to save lots of money, house hack every year with the VA loan and invest with my signing bonus.My biggest question would be what to do with the signing bonus.

"Oh, and stop worrying" about your age, or your social economic background, or that you are a woman or that you are black or brown or green.

Due to some economic factors it may be slightly under projections, but it is still stabilized.

Since that's not happening here, you should reevaluate the economics and your position.

Here in Maine, it routinely gets deep into the negative temperatures in winter, so lack of power/heat/hot water can quickly become a health and safety issue, especially if there are small children/elderly or those with health issues in the building.

Our government just increased the money supply by a massive 40%, created record inflation, made houses and everything unaffordable, drove the economic divide way up between asset owners and non asset owners, and people are very angry. 

And now next is health insurance.

Interest rates in the then current economic climate were in the 15 - 17% range for new mortgages, hence I was able to purchase a note on a SFR with a principal balance of $50,000 or so and an interest rate of 7.5% for $22,000.

Factors like:✅ Sellers holding tight to  low interest rates✅ Capital gains concerns✅ Multigenerational households✅ Rising construction costs✅ Inflation and interest rate pressures✅ Economic uncertainty…all limit inventory and make real estate increasingly valuable.My father and grandfather always said:“Buy land—they’re not making any more of it.”They weren’t exaggerating.Here’s the perspective that matters:🏢 Global Real Estate: $393.3 Trillion📈 Global Equities: $126 Trillion📄 Global Debt Securities: $144 Trillion🪙 All the Gold Ever Mined: $20.2 TrillionYes—you read that correctly.