No Go on the Duplex

I received the APOD from the agent yesterday and have been mulling over it ever since (well, in-between work, family, and other matters). It turns out my initial instincts about this property were correct. The agent tried to paint a rosy picture in her initial presentation flyers, but real numbers couldn't support her end figures. Reviewing her APOD presentation for the $109k duplexes, I found a lot to be worried about, if I were to purchase any of them.

1. The purchase price is $114,000. I'm assuming by this she's figuring in closing and/or repair costs???

2. The FMV is shown as $108,000. This isn't huge as I would be buying to hold, although, it does take a hit for me because I had planned on doing necessary repairs and do an 80% cash-out refi. But that's not going to be a possibility here.

3. From her description of just the outside of the place, I factored in $8-$10k worth of repair costs. Granted, I can get a CC with a 0% introductory rate of one year that SHOULD cover the repair costs, but it will still be a monthly cost I need to factor in for a while.

4. In her presentation flyer, she didn't include vacancy loss, maintenance, or other expenses aside from management, taxes, and insurance. When she included those figures in the APOD, it changed the bottom line drastically. Her monthly cashflow statement now reads negative.

5. Since the FMV of the duplex is right around the purchase value, I'll be stuck with it for a while, whether I want it or not. I always want a little equity in any property I acquire in case I need to sell it off for cash.

So, the bottom line is the duplex is a no-go. I would have loved to have added one or more to my portfolio, but there was just too much risk involved for me. I found a few other properties over the weekend that provide better CF and have instant equity. I also found another agent who I will be interviewing this weekend. She sounded anxious to work with me based on the brief conversation we had on the phone, so I hope it turns out good. She also said she is an independent broker/agent, which can be both good and bad. I also asked her about lender recommendations, and she says she has several she can give me. We'll see how it works out.