Wholesale Deal and finding Tax information

[Phillip Smith]

Hi BP,

I have a potential motivated seller with home close to University of Houston.

2 bedroom 1 bath  

800 sf

Lot: 5000 sf

Tax Assessor: $55,652 

1940s

Its hard to pull comps as most homes are larger but the median price in zip code according to Truila and Zillow is around $245k

Seller says this was a relative's home who passed away 2 years ago and the relative was on disability so they were "tax exempt."  However, the seller recently got a bill from county saying he owes taxes now and must pay back taxes around $28,000.  The seller says he would like to walk away with at least $10k for the property.

1.  How do I find out how much the taxes really are?

2.  Seller claims the home should have been tax exempt due to disability.  Can someone explain this part to me if you have had experience with it?

3.  Does this appear to be a good deal that I can sell?  I estimate the rehab at roughly $15K but got a cost on less than $5k to demo the home and start from scratch.  Since its near the College, I figured a savvy fix and flipper could build a duplex or triplex on the 5,000 sq foot lot and rent it out to students and make a killing.

Thanks in advance for your advise and expertise BP patrons!