That strikes me as a bit insane. 

If you had the right to use the stream water on your property you could do so and that might result in the pond only getting limited water and the owners might then be willing to strike a deal with you. 

They may get lucky and not strike out, but it's not a system. 

In a case like this, a small issue can develop into a major cash flow draining repair.Therefore, taking a preemptive strike, I would make regular inspections a requirement in writing within the lease and make sure that this  requirement is specifically discussed up-front before any potential tenant signs the lease.For the landlords/property managers out there, what is a reasonable, recurring schedule to do regular inspections on a rental or occupied property?

The landlord strikes a deal with you to go in and everything is ready.

Looks like they are just trying to take advantage of the circumstances now - "strike while the iron is hot" philosophy in play IMO.

I'm hoping to find a 2-4 unit property within striking distance of Seattle, so i can live on site and still keep my current job.

It just strikes me as a little hyperbole to say hey buy these performing 2nds and of course you have no risk because you have our warranty...

I threw you numbers into my modelling tool with the following changes:I used the ask price: 180Kmaintenance - 10%vacancy allowance - 10%Insurance - 1K/yr {rather be too high than too low}lawncare/snow removal - $75/mth,  $900/yrHydro (House) - $100/mth, $1200/yrWater/sewer - $85/mth, 1020/yrGarbage - $85/mth, 1020/yrMortgage: an LTV of 75 and 6.0% interest rate with a 30yr amortization.an opportunity cost of capital at 8% a 15 year hold period.Did not count laundry revenueThis brings your OE to ~1025/mth,  ~12,300/yr  ... an operating ratio of ~43% ... which strikes me as low, but wonderful if true.Just to be pessimistic, I added in another 2000/year of misc expenses to bring your operating ration to 50%With all of the above in the mix, I get a debt coverage of ~1.4 and a CoC of 10.5%  Which is passible.If you could purchase for 165 to 175K and the real expenses are closer to $12-13K/year, then this is will be a good investment with the following caveats:- I did not budget for upfront capital improvements that you would need to do at purchase;- Since I know neither the market nor the property, I modelled with no property value appreciation and no rent improvement.

The sellers age certainly does not dictate terms, but it certainly comes into play and the investor here needs to have as many facts as possible and as many potential options as possible to strike a win win deal.