Find out where the seller is at mentally.Most of my sellers shy away from little to no money down buyers who want owner financing.Someone with that much equity can sell now for less than what they would with owner finance.The benefit is they get a big payoff now.You may payoff later or become a big headache to them down the road.Tax assessment doesn't mean anything.How do you know title is clear from additional liens??

So I opened the listing on HUD website and in the Disclosures & Disclaimers it says "Property was converted illegally, Special Assessment $245.18"; however, MLS shows the listing as "2-Unit Bi-Level HUD SALE!"

If you are not well versed in assessing the condition of the property, get inspections and bids for reapirs if you can, if you are under contract begin now as your inspection period wil lnot run forever.

Here are the stats.Estimated Value : $59,000 Forecast Std Deviation : 22 4 beds / 2 baths / 2,362 sqft------------------------------------------Property Characteristics * Living Area :2,362 * Beds :4 * Baths :2 * Total Rooms :10 * Year Built :1900 * Lot Size :3,300 * Property Type :PUD * CoreScore :—---------------------------------------------Tax Information * Assessed Value :$36,000 * Assessed Year :2010 * Annual Tax :$1,075 * Land Value :10700 * Improvement :70% * Improvement Value :$25,300 * Tax Value :$36,000 * Tax Year :2010The property has a detached garage that needs some paint.

The first step is to collect data on the property including zoning, wetland, soils, topography, utilities, perimeter survey, easements, micro/macro market info, environmental, assessment information and legal issues.

I posted my reply too quickly and missed that you're paying cash.You've missed many of the expenses associated with rentals:VacancyMaintenance (mostly caused by tenants)Capital expenditures (mostly in the form of special assessments by the HOA, but also in the form of periodic major expenses)Legal feesCPA feesAdvertisingProperty management.With $1060 in rent, I think you're looking at best at $530 in cash flow, and likely less than that because of the issues others have pointed out with HOAs.

Thank you Chris.From the assessor:Total Assessed Value $139,000Land Assessed Value $2,800The house takes up the whole lot, there is parking for 6 in front of the house.

But that is only one third of the value assessment.

We've also considered selling this property and find other investment properties to bring in more positive cash flow; however, we figured we won't be able to get much cash back after selling it with the current assessment value, $490K.I will appreciate if anyone is willing to share your wisdom with us.

So, if you don't have a good eye for assessing such flooding risks, regardless of what the maps say, I'd suggest you first ask an inspector to evaluate the area during inspections (if that's what you usually require and don't do them yourself) or get a spot elevation and comments on the area from a surveyor.....if you are concerned about flooding.