So, while he had made 40% on 10% of his investment, he had only made 4.35% on his whole portfolio. My methodology was also focused on protecting my clients' investments and it had increased their entire portfolio 29% (unrealized). That would be an apple to apple comparison when measuring my returns against his. Bob's one fund realized 40% return. However, had I approached it the same way Bob had, I could have described one of the funds I used that had realized over 49% for the same period.
An alternative type of investment, which has become particularly popular in the UK, is that of property. Putting money into residential properties and then taking a rental income is seen by many as a win-win situation. The largest downside to this type of investing is that you'll need a large capital sum to begin with, or else you'll need to take out a sizeable loan. As with the stock market, property should be looked at as a long-term investment.
If they don't exercise their option to buy within the time period allotted, the option monies and any payments made toward the house are forfeited.
Surprisingly, I have found that only a small percentage of Lease Option buyers will actually exercise the option. (50%-60%) I cover this material in detail in my book.