A somewhat typical "What would you do?" question

[Jacqueline Brown]

I'm looking into a property that has been on the market since late 2012...it's a 2/2 and I know a lot of you may get turned off by the idea of 2 bedrooms, but I'm looking to purchase this property mainly as a house for my mother, and receive fair cash flow. I was curious about what you would do if it were you putting an offer on the table. 

It began at $62k and has since been chopped to $40k. It's in a decent area, however it is a small town (pop. 20k) in an area that doesn't have a ton of industry. The house is in pretty good shape overall. I'm aware that I won't look up and sell this house for $70k in the immediate future, but I'm okay with that. It is a property that I will want to hold on to since it's somewhat newer and I don't plan on kicking my mom out anytime soon. =) Plus, while my mother lives there, I'll have the perks of knowing that I have a tenant I can trust and will immediately disclose any potential problems or issues (the property is a few hours away). 

My question is, if this were your situation, and the house had been on the market for this long, what would your initial offer be? I haven't spoken with the seller, but I can only assume they want to get out from under the property. From what I read on some of the blogs, coming in at $30k and expecting the seller to meet me at $35k is a novice move, but I wanted to hear your thoughts.