No if it's priced right it's a steal for most buyers.The fact the you mention THE RIGHT buyer indicates it is overpriced and the seller is wanting you to find THE ONE buyer who will pay top market for it.So it is either a steal or it is not.Usually that market is slow moving as those are move up homes and many buyers are underwater in their current homes.Research in your area WHAT IS SELLING.I focus on what buyer are wanting to buy in the marketplace and NOT what sellers are wanting to sell.Your MLS will have data on what product type is moving.Expensive homes have a bunch of outlay in marketing costs so the listing should not be taken lightly.Some friends that have been selling upper end homes for years provide basic marketing and anything additional make the seller pay for it and keep the receipts.Then when it sells they credit the seller off of their commission.This way if the seller wants to take off the market early or change brokers/agents and not give you the average marketing time to sell it they are out the money and not you.It makes the seller think long and hard about correct pricing when it is THEIR money on the line.

Price is basically set by FEMA based on claims in the area.

However, the heated and gross square footage and number of rooms on the appraiser's website matches the information in the MLS ad, so I assume the county at least knows about this conversion, although I can find no proof that it was ever permitted.Has anyone here ever had any electrical or safety issues with tenants after buying one of these conversions?

Don's list is quite similar to his.The only thing I have to expand on is before you start demo/trash-out, complete any critical safety issues that may exist before you break out the crowbars.

Basically without a lease how would we go forth with the tenants?

It's basically manipulating an agency relationship, facilitating a sale or lease for a fee and in Mo. as well as other states can get you nailed if any part of your deal blows up.

Basically what happened was the builder did not complete the project and built only about half+ of the town homes, and some are not paying HOA now, so effectively there is a 50% HOA deficiency.

You should put your own safety and your brother's safety first.

Some of the information is basic, but there are some good nuggets too.

When a property has been vacant for some time (the utility company knows this from their records), the utility company can consider it a safety hazard to turn on the utility service without some inspection and repairs being performed first.And repairs are probably something you wouldn't want to do.Also to add to his item #2, some utility companies either want to see proof of ownership of some sort, or a lease signed by a tenant and the known owner, to turn on utilities.