You can add language that says, you cannot exercise your Option for the 1st (fill in a timeline) years. 

But its like internet dating one does need to exercise some caution.

All I wanted from this exercise was to get my foot in the water but seems like I just took 100 steps backward judging from the 0 responses.

(Meaning you can control real estate by buying an option to purchase it later and exercise the option when the time is right)

I talk to everyone about what I do...and I mean everyone - guy came out to do a site inspection for access to credit header info for one of my lead sources and before I knew it he's telling me about two properties he sees when he rides his bike for exercise.

For me, it was an exercise in taking action to get started, and seeing what I could learn along the way.

But again, exercise control, don't buy a boat.Using a HELOC to get rid of PMI would be a smart move, assuming the HELOC rate is reasonable.

There's tons of options for legalizing an unpermitted unit or leaving it as it is, so I'd recommend exercising caution, rather than avoiding unpermitted work all-together.If you're buying a true multifamily, one benefit of house hacking is the ability to put 3.5% down on a FHA loan- this can push your cash-on-cash return through the roof, and you only need to live in the property for a year to qualify for an owner occupant (low down payment loan).If you end up househacking a SFH with or without an ADU you can get better loan terms going conventional, with a 5% downpayment. 

It seems to me that soliciting someone with an offer to buy their house should be more of a "focused" exercise rather a "hit or miss" type of one ( mailings to me seem like just throwing a dart at the dartboard and hoping for a good lead...it's not really addressing the "real" distressed/motivated sellers who really want someone to help them).

After visiting the home & gently pointing out a few structural issues, I offered her $5,000.