Help on putting together creative offer

On Monday I was driving through a neighborhood that I frequent and I saw a house that looked vacant. I stopped and started to look around and sure enough it was. I took the address down and when I got home I started to do my research. I found that the owner lived right in that same neighborhood, not only that, but there was no mortgage on the house it was free and clear. Instead of sending him a letter I decided to go right to his house. There was no one home so I left him a note on his door. 2 days went by and I didn’t hear from him so I visited after 5pm and found him home. As I did my research I found that he owned a couple of other houses through out Jacksonville. Anyway I knocked on his door and I introduced myself and told him why I was there. He told me that he got my not and yes he was interested in selling that house but not this year. He said he had already made to much money for this year and he had to wait till next year to sell it to see if the values would go up a little.

So what I would like to see if there is a way to entice him to sell me the home with some type of financing that he would not be hit with the additional tax issues this year and maybe prolong that for the next year or even a couple of years.

So please put you’re thinking caps on and shoot me all any suggestions you might come up with.

The reason I’m looking for a house in this neighborhood is that I have a widowed friend that has the cash to buy a small house in this neighborhood because her children live there and she wants to be close to the grand kids. She sold her house in North Carolina and she is currently renting an apartment and the small amount of money is dwindling fairly quickly. Currently she has a very small income and she’s is spending too much on rent. So I have made it my mission to help her if at possible.

Any ideas?
Gene.