Be careful by underestimating the seller's attempts at leasing up.  

I am new at investing and am wondering how one goes about discovering if the previous owner has in the past, attempted to subdivide the lot and been turned down by zoning board.

There are many times that a problem tenant causes other tenants to move out for noise reasons, trashy loud and abusive friends, parking on the grass, bringing pests into a property, multiple nuisance calls, beer cans dumped in the yard, etc, a million reasons why a tenant can be a problem OTHER than for "personality conflicts"  It is difficult to monitor these PITA problems and correct them, and a protracted attempt to do that will lead to the good tenants moving out. 

2 Family in Prime area in Brooklyn, NY (Not in Contract Yet) Want to find out is it worth getting in Contract and moving forward.ARV - $1.2 MilContract Price - $670kRehab Cost - $80k - $100k (Complete Gut, Needs everything new, Plumbing, electrical, HVAC, Cabinetry, Appliances, Flooring, Windows, etc.).Also have questions about financing if its worth attempting.

(a) A landlord may not retaliate against a tenant by taking an action described by Subsection (b) because the tenant: (1) in good faith exercises or attempts to exercise against a landlord a right or remedy granted to the tenant by lease, municipal ordinance, or federal or state statute" Last I checked, freedom of speech and protest was both state and federal statute that could be used against a landlord.

I have attempted to simply go into a bank and speak with a lending officer before, it never ended up "good".

It took me a few attempts to figure out the tagging but now I'm a pro.See ya around the site!

If you give us those numbers, we can attempt to evaluate the deal :)

As far as getting her own estimates, I believe many states have a process where a tenant would be allowed to do this if the landlord is not responding to their complaints, although it sounds like you were actually attempting to handle it, not just ignoring it, so likely that wouldn't apply.      

I was going to wait a few months and give this all a try, but have considered in the last few hours since being laid off that right now may be a possibility to attempt this.So with what little knowledge I do have would you recommend attempting this or should I find a job, and learn much more before attempting this?