@Jessie HuffeyNo surprise here but I'm going to agree with @Colin Smith If for nothing else, purely because you're absent from the area (and thus the immediate attention the sale requires), I'd consider listing with an agent.But if you're dead set on doing it yourself, please feel free to reach out and I'll be happy to help where I can.Best of luck!

The variables that are used in this spreadsheet are based on my experience and knowledge of the market and are purely an opinion.

The only office users that seek these out are purely for the lower rent.This is not to say you can't get creative and try and install a tenant that will do well based in a residential area.  

Which on the low side would give you ~ 950+1125 =2075 in rent lets take this as your starting point Gross income for the year 24,900Now that we have an estimated rent / Gross Income lets start accounting for things...Gross Income (GI): 24,900Vacancy: -1,494 (6%)Total Gross Operating Income (GOI): 23,406Expenses...Property management: -2,490 (assuming 10%)Repairs and maintenance: -1,245 (assuming 5%)CapEx: -2,490 (assuming 10%, I generally do a calculation for this on the age of every CapEx item for a property and it is generally around 5%, but this is a duplex so I am taking a short cut and doubling it since you have two of everything except the roof)Taxes: -2,512 (From the eprop tax site for Sac)Water / Sewer / Garbage: -2,880 (Approximate, generally around 120 per month per house, again doubled for duplex, you could pass this on to the tenant potentially but accounting for it for now)Insurance:  -1,400 (this is a pure guess here)Total Expenses: -13,017 ~55.6% of GOI or 52.3% of GI Net Operating Income (NOI): 10,389Now that we have an expected NOI we need to figure out how much you can pay for this property and still make the return you are looking for. 

This is going to come down purely to whether the HOA thinks it can recover the costs of the foreclosure before the senior lien forecloses.

Investing is just math, pure and simple.

Purely from a financial perspective, that's a bad decision (the cost of money for a mortgage is cheaper than for real estate loans), but I sleep better at night that way. 

@Spencer Nelson most of the fixes were purely cosmetic, with the exception of some basement plumbing/leaks.

With this method I normally have 90%+ show up and almost always sell the house on the spot.Throughout my interaction with any prospective T/B I let them know in a matter-of-fact (NOT a pushy or salesy) manner, that I will continue to show the property to other buyers and it will be sold purely on a first come first serve basis.

Or maybe, it's just that our rationality can at times take forms other than pure profit maximization.Another lesson from Economics is the concept of utility.