Ethics when buying off market properties

[Ryan Blake]

I have a homeowner who owes $50,000 on her house. She and her husband can no longer make their payments. I talked through everything with her and will be going out to see their house early next week (6/5/18).

My deliema is that they were shocked that they would be able to get any money at all for the house. My as-is retail estimate is $140k and my ARV is $170k. I am guessing it will need some work but the house is only 11 years old. From talking with her I think the budget will be somewhere between $10-15k. I don't want to take advantage of these folks but I also need to make money off the deal.

Where do you draw the line?

Have you ever negotiated against yourself to make sure the homeowners are being taken care of?

What % of ARV should I not cross so that I can still look at myself in the mirror?

I just down want to progress the bad opinion of us real estate guys as used car salesmen. I have never had someone not know at all what their house may be worth.