If they re short or people have a hard time paying the rent, you will have a lot of turnovers.

Ashley - I don't know if this is a good deal or not - but I did respond to that listing - it looks bad and empty - There could be lots of equity or lots of stress - I like in and out in a short period of time.In my opinion every property offer is a "deal" - Every property offered is or could be a good deal -The only thing that make a property a bad deal is PRICEEvery property will sell if the price is rightTime on the market and price (reduction) are close cousins -Price softens as time moves on and motivation and reality is realizedEverything will sell at a price -The first thing I'd want to do is get the history of the property - how long on the market, why is it vacant - what's the reason for selling -What is the current mortgage balance - is it current or in the arrears - What other liens or obligations are on the propertyHow many owners - decision makersWhat is the commission - will agent splitAre there open to a reasonable and creative offerDo they want any profit or to just get it out of their nameCan down payment be paid over timeHow much paper with they accept - delayed payments - principal mortgageAshley - since you exposed this property to all of us - You should see if you can get the answers to those questions above - and play the game - WHAT WOULD I OFFER?

That leaves me $10k short and my plan is to get creative to cover that amount. 

What else can standing water for a long period of time do?

My plan is use the equity short term and paying it off as move it from one investment to another.

It has been listed for a couple of months now and not selling and here is what I know:It was purchased in 4 or 5 months ago as a short sale for 150kThe owner put mayyybe 15K into fixing a few things like electric, the porch, etc.

My wife is a licensed real estate agent, and I will be testing for my license here shortly.

The holding period for the property is deemed long term.

Banks won't allow you to wholesale the property and I believe they require a seasoning period before you resell the property.

We did some improvements like opening the kitchen to the living room earlier on our short 3 years of ownership.