I owned a small attached home across the street and when the owners were ready to retire and move out of state, we negotiated a price they were happy with and I was able to purchase this home for significantly less than it would have sold on the open market.

Also, the owner of the property might WANT to do a deal with you but the lender is the one that has the ultimate decision making power. 

While we have seen 10% appreciation over the past 4 years (including 2023) five year averages before that time period we were seeing 4% appreciation so there is decent chance it’s not as high.New York is a very very tenant friendly state it even has specific landlord taxes via rebates for owner occupied properties which could get worse if the state needs more money.

Whether you're a wholesaler looking to flip a profit,  short term rental owner, value investor or purchasing a legacy property for your family, nobody wants to overpay or invest and rarely is worthwhile attention provided to rough deals or tales of caution.Anyone investing in real estate long enough, has cliche's: It's not as easy as it looks would be a common theme, another might be, expect the unexpected?

One thing does concern me is that seems like the current owners of the property were trying to do the same things for the past 2 years but now needing to sell due to its not working out the way they wanted and there is a huge ballon payment on the existing loan.

Instead of these I pick option C.I track down previous owner/s and get them to sign a Quit Claim deed.

@Madison Sobol Franklin Park is a fairly low income area and I’m not seeing many owners spending money to improve their properties.

Hello BiggerPockets,I have an owner-occupied duplex and am looking for opinions on the following deduction.

I have a friend (living in a $1M home as the owner) who almost died last year and the mold actually helped her husbands asthma.

The investor only needs a W-9 if they are paying you for something you will NOT be including on a 1099 and Annual Owners Statement (with your charges as part of the expenses).For any & every owner you manage for, you will need a W-9 from them, so you can send them the required 1099.You need to discuss with all with a CPA fast!