DEALING WITH SLUMLORD SELLER

[David Pere]

Good Morning, Afternoon, or Evening all.

There is somebody in my area of investing that is trying to offload a lot of houses. I'm assuming that they have reached retirement and are content to sell and relax. This individual is selling houses below market value, and if the advertised gross monthly rent is accurate they would be a great deal!

The issue is that this individual does not maintain a copy of the lease agreements for any of their property, doesn't maintain profit/loss statements, and can't tell me what kind of maintenance might be needed. I am currently stationed across the country so I can't physically go look at any of the properties. Any advice on how I could attempt to verify the information, or is it worth taking the risk because an 80k property supposedly rents for 1800 a month. Is the best bet to turn my back to all of the properties listed, and ignore them?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Brandon Schlichter]

I'd pay a real estate agent in that area,  or a property manager money to go investigate them. I've had some that were in terrible condition with tenants who were not paying any rent at all and the landlord claimed everything was just fine. Wiring that was exposed,  drain problems and all sorts of crazy stuff. 

Risk can be mitigated somewhat,  but not personally investigating adds another layer of difficulty to the deal.