I think if they have been smoking in the unit for 4 years the chances of them fully complying with a new "non-smoking" policy are virtually zero. 

@Lumi Ispas  I think the reality of wholesaling out of state unless you have a very large amount of money for marketing is a non starter.. that's why I suggested buying a 1k house.. at least in the first 10 minutes of Cody looking at the internet he could find a house he could buy.. ( don't waste money on postage and such) and then he can use whatever resale techniques he has learned from others here on PB and resell for say 2 or 3k... and make some money.. without costing him more than his time..

If you rip it out yourself and paint, install a runner or non slip treads.

That is typically a non-motivated greedy seller.

Public sewer does not need inspection obviously.

. :)You are correct about the 2 of 5 rule, but there is another one: non-qualified use.

You'd be far better off to see if your county has public access to mortgages in arrears notices notices online somewhere, and pursue the preforclosure route, as best as I can tell.

In addition, they are either 100% occupied and receiving rent or 100% vacant and a big expense, where a duplex can be 50% occupied and when you have turn over or a non-paying tenant you still have some rent coming in.   

And like the bank, you also have the right to take the house back in the event of non-payment.

If it hasn't been mentioned previously, one area that I often advise out-of-state investors is to be aware of the property tax rate for non-homestead, and factoring in the higher tax rate when running your numbers.