Bad neighborhood... smoking deal

[Dean Klein]

First I want to say hi, I am fairly new to the forum but I have been reading alot of posts and discussions. There's a fairly big town 30 min from me and the real estate market is definitely a buyer's market, and there's a 2600 sq ft duplex in A+ condition that has had the same owner for 50+ years. The asking price is only $34,500 and the rents would be $900-950, property has never been rented, owner had his family living there in both units. This house is located one street over from a fairly bad part of town, where houses are boarded up, ect. I was thinking of making a $20,000 offer for this duplex because it has been on the market for 80 days and has had a $5,400 price drop. Is this a good deal?

[Matthew Schroeder]

Ask a real estate agent to pull some duplex comps for you to gauge market value.

How is your block compared to the other blocks?  A good block?  Pride in ownership?

Numbers look like they could be good, but the location/block/neighborhood are very important!