is this ethical?

[Mikey Cas]

Would it be considered unethical to call the neighbors of a sellers home. Just to ask basic questions, I did a property information search and found out this property I'm interested in was purchased a year a go for $7,900, and she was asking 18,900 now, and says ARV is 39,000, But it was purchased for 39,000 two years ago. You guys might be thinking, go to the property yourself and have an appraiser determine, but I live pretty far away. What do you guys think? Call the neighbor ask some questions? Thanks for any help. It seems like a deal, but a realtor in the area said the market is very slow and could take a year to sell!! But renting is a different story, much easier. I've been doing a lot of research and want to get my first deal going. The only thing holding me back is the distance, about 6 hours away.