See if you can negotiate credit at closing for the maintenance you mentioned and any other repairs needed that way you will have some cash and be more flexible with your options when you finally own the building.

If I make a significantly lower offer, I will try to communicate the reasoning, showing my work in my analysis of it.

The final phase is a 3 month trial period after which the lender will send you the final terms for your agreement and signature.

I countered at $93K, he finals at $99K and a $5K seller's credit saying any less and he's in short sale territory.It'd cost roughly $2,500 (if the numbers my agent collected are accurate) to split off the water and pin the utility to the tenants. 10% for management and another 12% for vacancy/repair reserves and I'm still looking at a 20% cash-on-cash return.You guys are pros, and I'm not.

I'd then suggest you take that and see your attorney to get a final draft.

I have a home in decent shape. Seller is motivated and wants to sell by the end of the month. He has about $4.7k in property taxes, and he'll borrow money from a friend to pay the oldest tax to keep the property, but ...

I also acknowledge that my situation could change if I were to finally get married and have kids.

I would need to see detailed expenses and rent history before closing to do my own analysis on cap rate.

Bring in 1+ people who specilalize in mold remediation BEFORE you make a final committment to building - you should be able to get an estimate and an idea of the mild/serious nature of it.

That being said it saves a ton a time on the lead sort and analysis.