I’ve got an opportunity to buy a rental house potentially for zero down, but I’m not sure if this is a good deal or not.

👀 I'd love to discuss some paths I can use to get this deal to closing! 

This strategy works great because there is a huge need for affordable housing here in Denver and paying 750 for a bedroom is a good deal for people that want to live here but can't afford a one bedroom apartment.

You can work with an accountant to work backwards and he can guide you of how much of a house you need to buy to get your income to the lower tax bracket / 12% / 10% / 0% bracket.

My plan is to 1031 into a passive deal.

I actually do not think that is true:https://selling-guide.fanniemae.com/Selling-Guide/Originatio...

I agree with @Scott Mac that you should have an inspection done so you know exactly what your dealing with if you really want to rehab it instead of tearing down. 

That's where the deals are.

So, they have barely an inkling of how to work with an investor to find "deals".Of course, most of the newbie investors don't know what a "deal" is either, with many of them willing to pay asking, or above asking prices.

Might be a challenge to find a lender that would take that though since most would have overlays on this type of deal.