Fire damaged, vacant & bankrupt...deal???

[Vonetta Booker]

Hi, BP--let me know if there's any deal to be constructed from the following:

I talked to a private seller the other day who has a vacant, fire damaged 2F in town. He's been an absentee owner for a number of years, trying to negotiate with the bank for a short sale with no success. The property has 2 mortgages on it totaling about 300k, & he also mentioned he filed for bankruptcy several years back. He said he'd be happy to walk with about 10k. Other 2Fs in that area have sold for 40-50k.

I'd like to acquire the property to either wholesale or buy, fix & hold--what's the best way to do this? I have a realtor colleague who specializes in short sales; I was thinking of bringing him in to negotiate one with the bank. If so, how does that work? Would I pay him a fee (perhaps built into the sale price?) or would he pay me a referral fee for giving him the listing/lead? (I'm licensed, BTW).

Also, could I wholesale this short sale if needed? Thanks--just trying to figure out the best way to structure this to work for all parties.