Would you consider property listings that have sat on the market for awhile?

[Joshua Gawaldo]

Hi BP,

Just wanted to get a feel for other people's opinion on this. 

I have been making it a point to search the various listing websites (Realtor.com, etc) daily to educate myself on my market as well as look for potential investment properties. In searching, I have noticed a few listings that may have some potential for buy and hold rental. I also noticed that some of them have been listed for a long time (200+ days). I ran numbers on one of them and an average rent rate is double the mortgage payment. Are these properties worth looking at or do you feel that if they were any good someone else would have already jumped on them? Is it bad voodoo to consider properties that have sat on the market for a considerable amount of time?

My own personal thoughts about this (keep in mind I am not an experienced investor...yet!) is that I may be able to get the property at discount since it has sat on the market with no sale. Depending on how-much/if the seller is willing to reduce the price; it may turn out to be a good deal.

So again, my question is: What has your experience been with older listings? Are they worth the extra due diligence if the initial numbers add up?

Much appreciation,

Josh