Consider appreciation as a bonus and never bet on it.Houston is getting hard to find deal now. you are not alone. keep looking and you will find oneGood luck

Yeah, you bet.

Anyway my bets are on Overtown as well there is a real need for affordable housing in Miami for young professionals I hope to get into Overtown soon.

The best bet would be to contact the lien holder and see if they would accept a partial payment to release the lien from the property, but not from the brother individually.

I would be willing to bet its a huge hugeHUGE problem with moisture.

However, you will have learned an interesting angle that I bet the vast majority of agents won't know.

Even though an all cash offer is lower it screams CERTAINTY OF CLOSE versus the risk of underwriting a borrower for a loan and the deal falls apart.It depends on how long you want to wait before you can refi out if that strategy works for you or not.What is your particular strategy for buying the smaller rental houses versus other assets classes if you have that kind of capital to work with??

I would rather have a stable-income neighborhood with young professionals or stable income families versus financially struggling single mom's working 3 jobs for example.  

Erik Drentlaw ARV would be independent of rent for a SFR since SFRs are typically valued by market comparables.The income the property produces versus its cost basis determines the return on your investment.

I bet the seller would be motivated if you made a cash offer with no contingency and any weasel clause.Joe Gore