If you can get insurance coverage and the local building department isn't giving you a hard time at all, then I'd say you're good to keep on moving forward with the deal. 

Let me break it down for you:Why Bay City is catching my eye: Incredibly Affordable Entry: Average home prices around $70,000-$80,000.

If you are a borrower with a w2 income and no other properties only basic liabilities your file should be very straight forward.

And this is all assuming you pick just the right price that you don’t sell it for less than it’s worth or it lost it for too much and it sits on the market for an extra month or two. 

Looking for purchase price anywhere from 350K and lower. 

Purchase price: $150,000 Cash invested: $20,000 Sale price: $260,000 Contributors: Peter Vekselman Partner Driven, in collaboration with Jason Arguelles, bought a property on Elysian Fields Ave, New Orleans, LA, on 10/26/2023 for $150,000.

Id get a price to repair said structural issues.  

The current owner’s strategy has been longevity with good tenants vs. raising the rent to keep pace with market pricing. 

With that said I do see plenty of referral fee agreements online but most are for % of listing agents commission rather than this colleague paying me 3% of the sale price.

These areas you are describing rarely appreciate, so the pricing is low and you can cash flow, but, as I said, at the end of the day, it is very hard to manage these types of properties.