Short Sale Rental Property Issue Pt.1

[John D.]

Good morning all,

Here's the deal in a nutshell. All advice is welcomed:

A "motivated" seller calls me based on an Internet ad. The seller has a rental property that is currently occupied and brings in $350 positive cash flow monthly. For personal reasons the seller must sell the property. The seller is asking 48k. Seller listed the property however due to the need to sell contacted me personally. A modest estimate of ARV is 52k

I met with the seller to take a look at the property and although the interior is dated the seller agreed to include all appliances in the deal. The roof is in need of repair and seller stated that they had a volunteer service who would replace the roof for the cost of material.

Now the seller knows that the bank will take no less than 30k and then there is 5k in back taxes. Outside of the 2k+ in agent fee's the seller is still looking to walk away with cash although the property is so upside down. I was looking to wholesale the property but may buy and hold myself. Though I understand the sellers intent, I plan on offering less then the asking price and go from there.  By the way the house has been on the market for almost a year and before the seller re-signed the agent agreement the house was listed for 40k. Any thoughts on this deal?

Thanks