I'm currently negotiating on a property in a lower income area and am trying to determine if I should buy and hold or flip?

My process for this was to first determine that there was not a surviving spouse and then to see if the deceased had owned any property through the county's tax assessors site.To those who have done this type of marketing before, my questions is this: is it more effective to send letters to the deceased's address (addressed generically to "Owner", not a specific name) and hope it gets forwarded to the heirs or should I research who the children are and send letters to them?

I cross check phone numbers and ownership of previous residences.

Brenda you have a misconception, what they are selling for.....determines what they worth.

My offer is determined by cost of renovations, ARV and exit strategy.

@Drew MacDermott - There are a million different ways to structure the beneficial ownership, but I can start with an example of a deal I'm doing right now with a total of 3 partners.

http://www.irs.gov/irm/part7/irm_07-027-008.html Deductions Under IRC 514(a)(2), the deductions allowed with respect to each debt-financed property are determined by applying the debt/basis percentage to the sum of the deductions allowable.

Sharia LawOnce you find what countries have British common law then you can drill down on the specifics of ownership and if there are any quirky restrictions, but for the most part, British Common law jurisdictions allow fee simple title and little restriction on foreign ownership.The next step of course is determining if those jurisdictions have the specific growth drivers that coincide with your investment philosophy.

What are the ramifications for the investor if the IRS determines that a lease/option between seller/investor was actually an installment sale?

You gain experience and helps you determine if you want to be a landlord.