Gauging Seller Motivation Through Realtor?

[Tristan Cottarel]

Hi All,

Newbie that just did a rough analysis of a property I might be interested in. It's been on the market for over 200 days, and looks like it could be a tackle-able flip.

Since my local market is inflated, the property is about an hour drive away, and to be prudent I would want to do a walkthrough with a contractor to get an accurate bid on repair costs. (Or should I not be paying someone to estimate repair costs for me at all?)

My question is, since the property is a bit farther away, and I would be spending several hundred to determine repair costs, is it worth mentioning (prior to visiting the property) to the selling agent that I am not ready to pay close to asking and imply that I want to "play ball"? i.e., gauge the seller's motivation, and, if the seller seems unmotivated based on the initial conversation with the agent, just not even bother and save myself the time and money?

Thoughts? Thank you!