I'm looking at a low cost of living area that's plagued with a housing shortage. 

What does it cost a family of 4 to go to Disney for a week?   

It's typical practice to look at out-of-state (OOS) marketplaces in order to improve cash flow, particularly in high-cost cities like New York.

Thus, it does little good to garner high cash flow from these rentals only to spend it in higher maintenance, management, and legal costs.

So many new investors that live in high cost of living areas look to the midwest or other cheap areas to invest. 

It might cost $2000 in lost cashflow.

This is especially true if the property requires significant upkeep or if the heirs live far away.Owners of Distressed PropertiesSellers who own homes in poor condition and can't afford the necessary repairs may prefer to sell as-is rather than invest time and money into renovations.Landlords with Problematic TenantsLandlords who have been dealing with problematic tenants, frequent vacancies, or costly property damage might want to offload the property quickly to cut their losses and avoid further hassles.Owners Facing Major Life ChangesSignificant life changes, such as health issues, retirement, or downsizing, can motivate people to sell their property quickly.

If after the repairs were done, I would be asking my attorney if I can recover some of those costs. 

To be honest, your cost to get in a duplex would be right around the cost to get into a SFH in that area.

Negotiated a small price decrease due to it being on the market for 60+days and also had seller pay 3% closing costs.