Duplex Deal - What to look out for?

[Hayden J Trossman]

New to all of this. I'm looking at a duplex in a Cincinnati suburb. Planning on purchasing with 5% down and house hack for the first year, then renting out both units. 

Wondering if I'm missing something, because it seems like a pretty good deal but no one is jumping on it. My agent said there's been a few showings, no offers.

Problems I noticed during tour: 

1. Basement moisture — not flooding, but some seeping. May need sealing/epoxy.

2. Both AC units are older. One didn’t kick on, the other seemed weak. Likely replacements in near future.

3. Small things like no gutter on a section of the roof, outlet covers painted over poorly, bad paint job around some windows, some 2 prong outlets need replaced to 3 prong, and a leaky faucet downstairs. 

4. Soundproofing between units is poor — I’d be downstairs so I’d see firsthand. Could address later.

5. Worth noting the house was built in early 1900s, but overall disclosures were clean.

Units are rentable as-is besides those issues. They're in great shape other than what was mentioned. Nice place, nice location, very little crime concerns.

These seem like very manageable fixes, wondering why nobody would even place an offer? 

I'm calculating it can rent at around or slightly above 1% of the list price. 

I'm considering putting in an offer $20-30K below asking price, wondering if you guys see any red flags or have tips for what I need to make sure to check before going forward.

Thanks!

[Aaron Zimmerman]

No major red flags. Older houses tend to have issues like this. #3-5 are largely non issues/minor inconveniences outside of no gutter on a section of the roof. 

The ac units going is not ideal but certainly something to model out. For the basement moisture, you might want to get someone out there to inspect that further