They have to use actual closed comparables and extract data from that. 

THEN, sit down and re-write your  plan using what you have learned about real estate and about yourself...your strengths & weaknesses...the parts of RE investing where you can create/extract the most value.By going through the process, you may decide you don't need to get your RE license, or you my decide it is essential before doing anything else. 

I can't really extract info like that from the data I'm looking at.

If this was a one owner property where they just owned that one retail center and most of their equity is tied to it then I have found they typically want to extract every cent they can out of it before selling.Every deal is situational.

I ran around in complete ignorance for some years until about 25 years ago when I worked a deal that extracted about $500K in equity by going deep, doing the research and hiring the right legal experts. 

It makes the base harder to extract from my historical patterns.

If in Illinois, you may need backup heat for the heat pump can only extract so much off the air in the winter.This things are not cheap, I'll bet around $4k-$6k installed professionally.

In some instances it might make sense to buy a home with cash (maybe it will make a lower offer more attractive for reasons others have stated) with the plan that you will refinance for 70-75% of the value - extracting a majority of your cash out of the deal. 

They too may find the sellers records to be challenging, but they should have a better chance at extracting this information from the sellers as opposed to the seller opening up their proverbial skirt to a potential buyer.

These are just some ideas about how to extract the motivation without bluntly saying 'why are you selling'.