Interesting,,, I, a few days ago offered what I thought to be a reasonable offer on an old duplex that needs a lot of work (an REO), and the bank was not very workable concerning the offer.  

A 5 to 8%, 15 to 30 year mortgage is workable for many situations.I am working through a list of lenders right now if you have any leads please let us know.  

If the answer is "no" or "don't know", move on.A real wholesaler who has a real workable deal will have the property under contract already. 

Is investing from out-of-country a workable way to begin? 

Yes, perhaps a 40 year loan would make it workable? 

Yes the seller puts the closing cost in the price of the house, if the houses appraises for the higher amount this is a workable idea.

I would really like to help this woman if I could but I understand that if its not workable then its not workable.

The merging of the market, with my exit strategies.I analyze every property for 5 different exit strategies, and 2 must be workable...or I pass on the deal.  

@Jack Yvars, had someone ask me yesterday if I would manage their 10 unit MF (I have a management company), I told him that it would be 10% or $1500 monthly whichever is greater.This would equate to roughly 60% of his free cash flow so there's no way he could make it work.For any legit and experienced MF management company there will be a minimum which almost always will be non workable in the numbers especially if you have investors.Probably more to your question though, maybe you can find one of the residents that you would like and trust to help with basics for a few hundred a month?

Submit offers based on what makes for a workable deal for you.