How to offer the right kind of deal

[Kevin Turcios]

Hi everyone, 

I’m interested in purchasing my parent’s next door neighbor’s house. She is a real estate investor, but she is old and I believe she is sick now so the house she typically rents out has been vacant for almost a year. I’ve met her several times and she’s known me since I was young. My father is a general carpenter so he did some work for her a few times. Anyways, I’m thinking about reaching out to her to see if I can purchase her house and was thinking about asking for seller financing. The house is under some distress: the bathroom in the basement is in very poor condition and plumbing does not work. The upstairs plumbing is also leaking in the bathroom and is clogged. In general, the house needs work on both interior and exterior. For the house to be vacant for almost a year, I think she must not be well or be under some kind of stress, so I feel like by coming in and offering the right kind of deal, I would be benefitting her and myself at the same time.

How would you guys approach this situation?