I would ask them to check out the house physically, if you get there then make a firm offer you're comfortable with it.

Personally I would rather spend time finding more deals, sourcing financing, and building a solid team, than I would going to physically check on my properties myself and deal with potential maintenance issues.

Here's how I do my due diligence:1) Portfolio matching: (takes 30 seconds per deal)a) Have an educated opinion on where I think we are in the real estate cycles (financial and physical market cycles)b) Then and only then do I pick the strategies, capital stack, and specialized asset subclasses that make sense for that opinion.

For most of us, it's a math exercise. 

The physical handle, the flapper chain came off, etc. 

Just to give you an idea of how the market changes, back in 2008-2010, I was probably offering on 40-50 out of 100 (that we physically looked at) and closed on 15-20 out of a 100.These days, I don't look at a lot of properties (most of my deals are partnerships and my partners are doing the acquisition stuff), but I'd probably say we're putting offers on about 15-20 out of 100 (that are physically looked at) and closing on less than 5 out of 100.The other big difference is that 10 years ago, we probably looked at about 25% of all deals that came across my desk. 

You may also consider looking for lease with option to own opportunities, for the same reason; lower your down payment- then use the leasing period to build up what you need to exercise the option to purchase. 

Since a condo would be limited in terms of physical changes, think about what services or experiences you could add like grocery shopping (assuming full kitchen), concierge, driving service, eco tours, snorkeling, etc...

Seller no longer physically resides at the address.

If it is a small enough house like this and I do have not much to do, I can just drop my 1hr exercise routine and 1hr lunch walk to do this.