If you live in one unit and rent the other, the banks will be very agreeable.When you narrowed down your neighborhood, find an agent who is also an investor and learn the local habits of buyers and sellers.   

However, if this lady is demanding that you not only offer, but close on this property without seeing it, I would drop this like a bad habit.

I think my investing habits would also be more aggressive if there were more properties available that met my criteria.

After Sandy the town did mitigate the taxes on a flood damaged home and also utility companies removed meters although we had electric and water (no gas) but those properties were not habitable.

We contacted 311 and the New York City Department of Vital Statistics to inquire if homeowner is deceased but they will only provide information to family members, persons listed on the deed/insurance policies and Attorneys.

My wife is picking up bad habits from me, we were at a REO this past Sunday.

I'm all for giving people a fresh start but her history of bad debt is really long and it seems more like a habit than a past mistake.Option to buy--we're not interested.

Our coach we've been working with mentioned that wasn't necessary, as our offer will end up being way too low, but the more I read, the more I see people saying it's vital.

This is where you start to take the investment's vital signs: Is the cash flow adequate, is the debt coverage ratio strong enough to secure financing, etc?

The walls had to be washed down along with the cabinets but that was a few months after treatment to knock the bugs down to at least a level where you could enter the place (not habitable yet).If you watched Orkin and Undercover Boss this week on TV that was child's play compared to what I saw.