Home owner wants to sell but sister has life estate

[Ricardo Murph II]

I am wholesaler/ investor in the Cleveland area. I was contacted by a gentleman that wants to sell his house.  The problem is his sister lives in it and she has a life estate on the property.  During my google search this means she can live in it till she dies. 

He says this home is well kept in a nice area of a city called Brooklyn. 3/1.5 finished basement. His parents took out a 50K HELOC about 4 years ago, which is only debt on the property that is 140k on Zillow.

He didnt give me a number but he he just wants to cash out his ownership and let the investor deal with his sister. Is there anything I can do?  What questions should I be asking?

[Jon Holdman]

The value of the property with the life estate situation is significantly less than the value of the property with a clear title.  Basically the buyer would be getting a property with a significant encumbrance that does not get removed with the purchase.  The buyer is getting ownership, but not possession.  Possession only comes when the sister dies or decides to move out.  That delay creates a discount.  If the sister is on her deathbed (sorry to be morbid) the discount would be fairly small.  If the sister is young, healthy, and has stated she's not leaving the discount would be significant.  A way to get a handle on this discount would be to ask the sister flat out "how much money would it take for you to move?"