Potential Wholesale Deal, What Now?

[Padric Lynch]

So I've been direct mail marketing and this lead came in:

The situation: The owner and his ex-wife still have joint ownership of the property. Ex-wife's son is living in the property and supposedly fixing it it up. The owner has been making payments, until recently he found out that the ex-wife's son was paying rent (which was going straight to the ex-wife, not the property), so he stopped. When he stopped, the ex-wife didnt resume the payments. Currently the house is in pre-foreclosure and the owner just wants out. He needs a signed contract for $82,000 on June 12th to show the judge, convincing him to relinquish it from the ex-wife who has not contributed to the payments. The $82,000 is the full amount owed on the property. Property is in New Bern, NC.

Numbers: This is what I have so far. It will be difficult to get an accurate scope of work since the ex-wife's son is still living in the property. It is not clear whether he has fixed and maintained the property or has trashed it.

Resale Price: 125-130K

ARV: 135-140k Not much to repair, all cosmetic.

"Rehab" Costs: Siding 1.5K, Carpet 1K, Refinish floors 1K= $3,500

Potential Rent: $900-1050

Wholesale Fee: 6-8K

Seller Contract: 82K

Assignable Contract: 88-90k

Questions:

Is this worth pursuing?

Is it too much risk doing the due diligence/further research and finding a buyer when it is not a guarantee that the judge will grant the property to the husband?

Are there any issues that I may run into that I'm not seeing here?