How to decommission a unit

[Kasey Ryan]

Hey there BP community! So I've been searching for information and have not had any luck finding much of anything on this... recently a 5 unit has come up for sale in my target area of Illinois. 1 of the units is unoccupied....I am trying to use FHA financing, and so can only go up to 4 units.

I would like to contact the seller to see if they would be interested in decommissioning a unit, so that I could then get financing and make an offer. I read about this possibility in Brandon's inspirational story and I was hoping I could benefit in a similar way. 

BUT I want to know what exactly is necessary to decommission a unit before making first contact. It can't be as simple as just deciding it is decommissioned and telling everybody? I assume there must be a set list of criteria? Thanks for any and all info!