First buy and hold

[Nick Brasco]

Hey guys.  I am looking at a house in a decent neighborhood.  It has been listed for over 200 days and the price seems too good to be true.  It is a two family house that has been renovated (the work looks so-so) they are asking around $130k and each apt rents for $900.  I ran the numbers on the rental property calculator and it looks like I am going to be making around $750 a month in positive cashflow after the mortgage, insurance and taxes are paid.

The downside is the realtor is a pain to get in touch with, there appears to be a leak in the 2nd floor bathroom, and the realtor is claiming there is a private owner that wants to get rid of the property, but when i check the tax records it shows that a real estate company owns the house.

My questions are the following:

- Is a deal that is too good to be true usually just that?

- Is it possible to get a mortgage for under 100k (two mortgage lenders i spoke to said no)

- Do I HAVE to put 25% down because it is a multifamily (two mortgage lenders i spoke to said yes)

- Is there anything you would ask before making an offer? (maybe to see rent checks from tenants, if there were permits pulled on work, etc)?

thanks so much for your help.