A Journey to do a deal

So I should've left today but I got caught up doing some things that needed to get done and I didn't feel like starting my drive 1200 miles late in the afternoon. I was able to poke around on the computer today and started looking up FSBO's in Joplin, Missouri. 

My goal is to buy at least 1 house while I'm there so I got some things put into place. I called a friend of mine who's an agent there and knows my investing style and told him to set up some possible deals for me. I would rather not pay the commission but at least this way I'll be able to leverage out his time to increase my odds.

while poking around I did find one decent possible deal. The property is a 3/2/2, built in '81 and is just over 1300sq ft. The pics that were posted on the site were very nice and the sellers wrote they are very motivated.

They didn't leave a phone number but did leave an email. I emailed them informing them I would be in town for 2 weeks and I'm planning on buying some houses, I asked if they would be willing to sell for what's owed on the mortgage.

I received an email back later that said there 'IS NO' mortgage and they would be very interested in speaking with me. They live out of state and it's been very difficult for them to care for it from a distance. They said they are willing to 'negotiate' the price and they "NEED" to sell.

Now in case you're new to investing, I'm going to tell you what my translation is to there response to me was, " Please help! we'll sell to you under your terms, you're the master and we're your servants" HA HA HA

No really it's obvious that this will make for a great 'owner financing' deal or even a Lease/Option deal if I can't get the deed and have them carry back a note. Either way it's a great opportunity and one that I'm going to pursue.

I emailed my agent friend and asked for "sold" comps as recent and close to subject property as possible and also rent rates so I can use those numbers in determining what and how I was going to offer. Ideally I would like to please MikeOH and Jon by doing a deal finally that fit the 50% rule even though ideally I'll likely not want to be a long distance landlord. 

So I'll try to post up some updates and see if I can't make this one happen. If this one falls through then I'll never post a deal in the making again b/c it'll seem to be bad luck.