condo, multifamily or single-family?

[Mike Eiler]

Hi, everyone. Great forum. I'd like your opinions on a few things that are on my mind.

I'm looking at a duplex for $115,000 (short sale) in a downtown area. It's not a bad neighborhood, but it's not great. Right next door is one of those big hotel-looking apartment buildings. The rents are $600 and $700 for each unit, though I'd like to see some documentation (I wouldn't pay $700 to live there).

There are also some very affordable condos ($59k, etc.) in nicer parts of town. And there are also very affordable SFHs.

How important is part of town and neighborhood to you? This duplex seems like a good deal to me, but I'm new to this, and I might not know as much as I think I do.

Any thoughts?