Opinions on this deal?

[Katrina P.]

I found an owner of a 4-unit bldg, who is currently in jeopardy of losing the property (March 2011) due to back taxes. They paid $5500 for the property last year, and put a lot of work into it, and must've been new because they neglected to pay the taxes. All units are rented - grossing $1500/mo in rent. The owner is asking $42k for the property. I offered $33k, and told them that out of the 33k, $9k has to go to the back taxes; so they'll only be getting $24k. What do you guys think?