Making an offer that is 70% lower than the asking price

[Christopher Malone]

I am searching for my first rental property to purchase. While searching on redfin, i spotted a rent ready 2 flat that has 3 beds, 1 bath in each, listed at $169,900. The problem is that it has been on the market for a little over 800 days... I continued to research and drove through the neighborhood and everything checks out. Given there is minor crime in the area, it is not enough to stop other sales in the area. I ran my numbers as conservative as possible and came to the conclusion that if i were to make an offer, it would be around 70% less than the asking price which is around 50,000, the same amount most of the other distressed properties in the area are selling for. As a new investor, is this a property worth pursuing? I figured that i would at least schedule visit to see if there is something wrong on the inside.    

[Christina R.]

As the others have mentioned, you have to run your numbers and make sure they work for you (which it sounds like you already have done).  There's no harm in making an offer.  The fact it's been on the market for over 2 years tells me you don't have a motivated seller.  I will tell you this, it's good to get practice making offers that work for you so you can get over any trepidation of "offending" someone.