I assume, if the owner doesn’t catch up with the payment, in case of foreclosure, I would probably get back the amount I have invested but every excess amount would go to the owner.I could do a deed in lieu but why would the owner do that if he could wait for the foreclosure and profit there? 

Living in NYC, everyone is always telling me how crazy I am to not buy in NYC given the price appreciation that we've experienced over the last 10 year in particular - but I'm not sure that either market is immune to price depreciation even with foreign investors stepping in to sop up any excess inventory at ridiculous cap rates. 

I am aware that there is an opportunity cost that I could miss out on if I were to use my excess funds to pay off the mortgages in terms of using those funds to buy other rentals, but at this stage, my portfolio (8 rentals in total) is enough for me to handle.Thanks  

I do feel that a good seller's agent can provide a great benefit to the seller, it just seems that $36k for 2 months of work seems a bit excessive.  

It may sound excessive but don't leave any stone unturned.

Then take the excess 44k for reno.

-If you are moving to an area where your BAH will change on the positive side, maybe find a roommate (or several) and rent out a place together and use the excess BAH to help cover expenses.

At that point, any excess would be used to fund the next property.

My 2 cents :The seller is looking to get a premium in excess over the cash flow value due to the high value of the land in that area  Those particular duplexes were built all over town in the early 80s by I believe NPCMy guess is the agent probably has investors on his buyers list lined up by the lack of marketing i.e.  

1/1's turn over a lot and you have excessive re-tenanting costs.