New far-far-away member & questions on investing in FL

[Christophe Noualhat]

Good morning everyone (it is morning for me and most likely this post will appear when it will be morning for you)... 

Yes I am from a far-far-away land called MADAGASCAR (and no, there are no penguins, lions, giraffes or hippos... only lemurs !!). 

I'm a european expat living there currently and looking across the ocean to invest in real estate in the U.S. I have been listening to a few podcasts from the hosts (which are great so thanks for offering this for free and making this community alive !) and read a few forum posts. 

Being the quiet type, I have not posted on any of the fora before today...

for those interested, a bit about me, for those not interested please scroll down.. 

I have 2 former dwellings from when I used to live in France which are now being rented. One is almost fully paid and basically paying the other as the rent is much lower than the the mortgage. For those who don't know the French market, it's nothing like the US market and ROIs are much much lowers if any...

I also recently aquired a set of 20 garages which offer a better ROI than apartments or houses and splits the risk of unpaid rent in exchange for more management... but I have a retired Dad :)

In the past couple months, I have been in contact with a few companies and individuals specializing in investing in the US for foreigners, some looking more dodgy than others but overall seeming to be doing OK... I have concentrated my research on FL and in the Tampa area, for no specific reason or personal preference...

In the past few weeks, I have been in contact with an agent/broker doing this kind of work and having a team for the closing/taxes etc.. able to manage the property and all, he seems good and has provided lots of time without asking for a penny (which is the job of a RE broker, only its a lot more time consuming when the buyer is not present ...)

Now I have my eyes on a property (it will be the 4th offer through him, the previous ones did not go through) and I would like to ask seasoned RE investors here a few questions...

The house is advertised as a duplex 2/1 + 1/1 but after the visit I was told that an extra split had been done so it looks now like a triplex 3* 1/1 ... This split has not been declared, what are the consequences and how to align with "the law" ? What will be the consequences in terms of taxes or other ? 

The current rent seems very interesting vs cost of the unit (2% rule reached and were probably over 2%...), split unit electricity and water in the landlord's name. From the outside the unit has been deemed in good condition and the neighborhood is ok (going uphill), criminality is low.

Rent seem to be high for 1/1s, the agent tells me it is because there is no offer for low rents in the area. The agent has not seen inside the house because 2 of the tenants were at work and the landlord did not want to insist on disturbing the 3rd one as he is afraid that if his tenants know he is selling they might leave... The owner is an elderly person who wants to ramp down on his investments. He has owned this unit for over 20 years... 

The house has been on the market for a year now and is listed at 60% its original price...On paper it looks very good... 

Any experienced investor see anything fishy ? anything I am missing ? Anything I should be looking at ? 

Thanks for reading me !

Best

Christophe.