Just flat refuse.

We converted it to a rental property the next year after replacing the roof, converting the oil heat system to gas, and updating the electric system to the tune of $38,500 altogether.  

Hello BP,I'm Melchor Domantay and I'm a newbie investor from Berwyn IL.I joined BP on September a day after I bought my first property, a two flat which I'm "house hacking.

I pay about 5K for my three-flat that is about 430K in the city of Chicago.  

With the rent range of $500-700/door for MFH, that is the crew who are typically one flat tire away from not paying.  

I've heard that diversifying geographically and investment-wise (not all SFR, not all 4-flats, not all commercial) is a really good way to invest since you can weather lots of different storms.

Getting a response from the owner is another matter altogether.  

So, in a flat or declining market, most won't by the house.Most won't have the money or the improved credit to buy at the time of the option. 1-3 years is usually not enough time.

Most flatly refused , and told the banks to back off.

This is a case where the seller tried to take advantage of someone not from the area, flat out lying about the value.