We are considering the following options:-I purchase the property from my aunt – Perhaps we can do seller financing to reduce fees?

I recently purchased a triplex in Pittsburgh and have had success with it so far.

But unless you get a value-add property, purchasing real estate really doesn't make much sense in this environment?

Purchase price: $425,000 Cash invested: $5,000 Helped my past client out of a difficult situation.

The substitute of collateral was more of a scenario where you sold for $155K, and instead of paying off the $88K loan in your scenario, those funds stayed at the title company and were used on a cash purchase happening nearby in date. 

If your mother does not want to carry the note long term, there are GSE renovation loans that can be used for both purchase, rehab, and permanent financing all in one loan.

Your goal is to plant the idea in their mind and create a situation where selling to you feels like the easiest and most logical solution for them.If you haven’t already, the first step is to get pre-approved for a mortgage so you know what you could afford if you were to purchase the property conventionally.

In the next 2 years, I'll be looking to purchase a MFR to househack. with the idea of reinvesting all of the cashflow to help scale.

Buyers usually want to purchase on today’s value while sellers often want to use future potential of the property (“current rents are below market” or “room to build an additional property”, etc) to increase the purchase price or likelihood of a sale.

My question is do I go forward with purchasing the property and deal with the higher insurance and potential hazard or is it smarter to walk away?