Staging is a gamble, but one that normally pays off if the home is priced correctly. 

dont gamble with your parents retirement. side note if you do this on your own you will be a better investor than if you were handed the money and you will feel more accomplished, good luck.

Investing, even in real estate, can be a calculated gamble.  

The pros and cons honestly vary the biggest consistent pro is the fact that you have potential to get a cheap investment property the consistent con is these properties are generally site unseen so you do not have any clue what you just purchased.Then you have the variables like does the county your purchasing the foreclosure in provide clean title, do they expect you to pay delinquent debts on the property, location of property, rent rate in that area, etc.At the end of the day purchasing at an auction is a great risk if you have capital to gamble otherwise stick with foreclosure

Current Flood Zone risks in Tampa do not look good for those who Gamble with political opinions and do not understand the science of your Risk of flood. https://experience.arcgis.com/...

Couldn't pay me to gamble on the outcome of that mess.

At this time it’s a wild Wild West our there and there is no way to verify who is authentic and who is not.

That is a losing gamble in my opinion.I agree that a recession is in our future, but I don't think it will be a house buying opportunity.

As an investor buying at these prices and taking a negative cash flow loss each month and praying for appreciation is not investing its gambling.  

No risk would be keeping the money in your pocket and walking away because gambling is a pretty bad idea in the first place (I work in casinos, so don't tell my boss I said that).