Syracuse, NY Duplexes - Too Good to Be True?

[Dray Farley]

I've been looking at listing for multi-families in Syracuse lately, and I've seen multiple duplexes in the $140-200k price range with 2 three bedroom units. It seems like the going rate for renting a 3 bedroom apartment in Syracuse is at least $1k a month, so these would represent properties with rent safely above the 1% rule. Most of these seem to need cosmetic updates, but aren't complete gut jobs.

As an out of state investor in other higher priced states, this seems like a great opportunity. But I keep wondering if I'm missing something. Are these properties in bad neighborhoods? High vacancy rates? Lower rent than what I think? Interested in your thoughts.