I don't eat worms, but good advice about shopping on line. 

In theory I agree, but you can't eat houses.

If the guy owns the house outright and is renting to you cheaper than what the market would allow; if the guy owes so much on the house that you have to eat his shortfall; if your roommates move out and you can't replace them; ETC. 

Learn the basics first about real estate, we eat an elephant one bite at a time.Initially, work with an agent who has experience and where you can feel free to ask questions, you need a good communicator. 

@Janie Vowles Welcome.We wait until we've got an Application, copy of License and a check, then we do the Checking and eat the cost.

The profit if any is small so any unforeseen items could easily eat up any potential profit.Good luck!

Thanks for responding again though :-) I blame the mortgage goblins for eating my response.

The risk to me is that once the appraisal is done, I will have to eat that cost if seller gets funded.  

While it is true you can deduct the mortgage interest, management fees, and other expenses, when your passive losses outweigh your income, you end up eating the loss. 

Your agent, by not finding out if they were getting paid by the seller in this case made the mistake and THEY should have to eat it if they were a professional and didn't do their homework on the deal.