It has probably accrued substantial fines.Firstly you should look up public records and find out what liens and mortgages exist.If it has equity then contact the owner.

Even if it's an active lien that's accruing some sort of interest and/or penalties they should be able to obtain a payoff letter that's good to the stated closing date.

Thanks to everyone for all the responses, and its not so much a tale of complaining, but more genuine curiosity about what others feel works in our market.  

Hello All, Well first off my name is Ryan, I stumbled upon this site after my curiosity in real estate investing led me on a wild trip through google and various other websites.

The issue is the fact that fair market rents will be set by an appraiser in the future when the buyer applies for conventional financing.Lately, states have been imposing "equity laws" requiring landlords to foreclose instead of evict when a tenant accrues a purchase interest in an option contract, they are treating the contract as an installment sale. 

@Cedric DadailleJust out of curiosity, do you have great deals available?  

The judgment amount was around $51K in 2012 and has been accruing interest since then. 

If you are holding for less than 10 years you need to look at things differently, and if you have components approaching end-of-life now you need to ensure you have reserves/cash on hand to make those repairs out of pocket because your capex account won't have time to accrue savings from your layaway before you have to make the repairs.

At that time you can collect your principal balance and any unpaid penalties or interests that have accrued over the life of this loan.Please let me know how you make out and I can refer you to all the correct people so that the transaction is smooth effortless and secure.Good luck,Frank

As a newbie from NYC I've been looking at investing not to far from the city (Albany, NY) but just out of curiosity wanted to see what else was out there.