College Town Condo-Good Deal??

[Angela P.]

Hi All - Looking at a potential property that was brought up to me by a co-worker who heard me talking about real estate investing. Just pays to talk out loud sometimes!

Coworker bought for her son when he attended college, has had some renters in there for past few years but she lives very far away and would really just like her equity out of the home to do things to her primary.

Here is the scoop:

* 2bd/1.5ba, 1100sf Condo in the heart of University of Colorado Boulder campus area. Brand new kitchen this year, newer updated full bath a few years ago.

* There is 100% for sure asbestos in the walls, they found it when the kitchen had to be gutted. There is a community heating system through steam pipes that runs underneath the complex, one of the pipe's cracked and a bunch of the condo's ended up with mold. The HOA was responsible, they had the condo abated, the mold removed, and had to pay for the new kitchen, at which time the asbestos was located and had to be dealt with special.
(first question here -- what do I need to do to make sure this was all handled appropriately and isn't a problem for me in the future?? and is this automatically a giant mess and I should just walk from here?)

* Asking Price (just in passing at this point but she thinks it's worth $190K, at first glance using just Zillow she's pretty spot on, it says $187K - I am having my realtor actually do real comps on this right now.

* HOA's are $400!!! Apparently it covers all the normal HOA stuff plus electric and heating as well.

* Property taxes are ~$1200/year

* Not sure what landlord insurance would be on this yet - reasonable to presume $1200/year?

* Potential Rent in this college down is $1700 - $2000. She is getting $1700 right now but she did say they are undercharging based on surrounding area and after the upgrades / new kitchen she thinks I could get $2000.

The house has appreciated $30,000 for her in the last 6 years, and Boulder Colorado is one of the most expensive places to own a home.

Please be critical and let me know if this is something that you would buy and why!

Angela