At some point you'll want to move on and duplexes can be very hard to make work as pure investment properties.

First and foremost this was a purely hypothetical analysis, with that in mind:- I've not tried to get any actual loan through any lender, I more or less took a stab at what it would be like to invest at a negotiated lower price so I could understand the impact of margin and what it looks like in the calculator.

I have my county tax delinquent list and it's easily over 20k before I screen the numbers.I know these things can vary based sheer luck and pure persistence so I thought I would ask to poll the audience.

If you have several properties, as in my case,  the positive cash flow ones carry the negative cash flow ones, so it all works out in the end, and 5 to 10 years can create a lifestyle of pure freedom. 

From a purely financial perspective, the optimal solution would be to leave the mortgage in place and simply use the windfall for investment purposes.

The below is pure speculation; I don't work in "loss mitigation" or have any insider scoop on it.With interest rates as low as they have been since 2012 or so, and given where appreciation has been, and the fact that when/if a home sells the title company will require that the lender (plus back interest) be paid off, it's possible that the 'rational' thing to do is let the interest accrue on the assumption/hope that there will still be equity in it at that point when someone dies/divorces/etc and sells. 

By pure dumb luck I haven't had any federal employee clients go into escrow on anything, not all that many federal employees in the east bay.

That way realtors will take you seriously and you'll be able to take action when the right deal comes along.I would look at multi-families that you can house hack and then turn into pure investment properties down the line.

Ideally, you want the property to cash flow after you move out so you can keep it as a pure investment.Once you have some numbers, post them to the forums.

This was purely for fun and fire from the hip weapon.