Hey Josh,I would make your offer based on the math. 

We've got 4.7 months worth of inventory available versus 6.2 or 6.4 (depending on who is doing the math) a year ago.

@Andres Aguirre Your math is correct. 

While I absolutely agree that you should do your homework and educate yourself as much as possible, you will never know it all and you probably already know enough to take steps towards completing your first deal.

Do your homework and see what the city will allow. 3) Would it make sense for your dad to clear it and build a duplex on it?

It's really nothing more than a math problem, but you don't have any real figures to work from:- How much is 30 months of living in the apartment worth?

Also filling out your profile so others will know what your goals are and exactly what you’re looking for so that possible investor partners will know that you’ve done a little homework on your own.

Get @David Greene 's book, Long Distance Real Estate Investing which is very thorough and helps you learn the way to build a team remotely.If you can't make the math work, don't do it. 

I've purchased 'Examsmart' and am scoring in the upper 70's on my practice exam (my weakness primarily with mortgage questions and some math).

If you work your analysis in reverse, starting with what you need (exit strategy) to end up with in the end (minimum profit/cash flow in DOLLARS...not %), you may find that there are many markets out there where you don't need to discount to make money on.It's all about knowing "how money works"...and being good in math, which most are not...and just because you can add up to 10 in the winter, and 20 in the summer, doesn't make you good in math.Unfortunately, way too many REI (actually people in general) are the ones in math classes that said, "Why am I learning this, I'm never going to use it?".