Contact apartment owner directly with Subject To/Carry offer?

[Dale Overbay]

The Summit is only two weeks away and my head is full of questions, so I've just got to see if anyone has any experience with this scenario:

While browsing through the local real estate listings, I came across an apartment complex for sale. The listing says it's fully occupied and based upon the rent in the area, the numbers look really good. The problem is I've got a short sale on my record from a year ago, so I'm going to have to get creative with my financing. I pulled the ownership information and found the name and address of the owner.

I was thinking about contacting the owner directly, offering full asking price, and giving him 10% cash down, but we'd have to do an owner carry or subject to agreement. He would also be saving on realtor and closing costs. Has anyone tried this approach? Any luck or am I just wasting my time? Thanks!