@Dean HulsingOnce you understand the environment in which the business operates (local tenant population, average rents, physical and economic vacancy rates, the growth / decline of the local economy, the risk of the local economy (i.e. does most of the tenant population work for a single (cyclical, declining, growing) employer)), then you can compare the business (property) to its peers and evaluate its shortcomings and potential.After the above, you should be able to put a value on the business and, if it looks to be a profitable, long term venture, issue a Letter of Intent (LOI) with your offer and deal framework,  If accepted, you then dig-in and conduct the formal diligence.

From his own experience and judicious use of Checkbook.org, he can usually add some names to the bidding process.Bottom line, property managers are focused on finding someone to get the work done, the sooner the better.  

Fielding emails and texts are fine, but to work more professionally, I'd like to start using a more formal approach.

Even Especially if you are borrowing from friends and family, you should use formal lending agreements and register the lien against the property (mortgage) to provide security to your lenders.

My pessimistic self is guessing that the bank has obtained the property via a judicial means and the "owner" is now just an occupant waiting to be evicted.

And it is not customary to pay the lender for the appraisal if a formal appraisal was done. 

In this priticular situation we will be flipping the home so I'm not as concerned about any due on sale clause the sellers mortgage holder might have but I will still go through the formality so I have multiple exit stratugies.

This time around , I want to improve my project management flow by having a more formal contract and estipulations as to the work quality , delivery expectation and payments.

Filing the Property Transfer Affidavit is a (required) formality that may or may not get done that changes the record of the assessor.

What is frustrating are the those with much less experience dealing with law, those who have no or very little formal education in RE and law, with little finance experience much less compliance experience who do set out opinions, especially in areas that may be off the conventional path which the call "creative financing".