Crunch the numbers to see if they make sense.

This ends up with your cash flow being crunched and reduce returns year over year versus growth.These are the discussions I have all the time with larger owners.This owner sounds like he has a trophy property and a dog to sell.

RE can be better estimated for a small investor (under say 10M is a small investor), You can crunch numbers, make projects, estimate markets, calculate tax benefits and come close to financial goals.

Crunch your numbers again but use more worst case scenarios regarding inflation.

If you're under a time crunch, I'd find the best agent in the market in question, and pay the freight.

Who cares what the seller is saying, crunch your own numbers and determine if it's a deal.Obviously you need to first find out what the asking price is, and then determine if its even in the ballpark.

is it better to be a pessimist, a realist, or an optimist?

If you are a pessimist, like me, I feel like that I have passed on a few deals that could have been good just because I tend to estimate vacancy rates, repai...

Not to mention the credit crunch and tougher lending regulations in general?

Comb through the MLS and crunch the numbers on 3-4 properties a night that are in different areas of the city. 

THe seller NEEDED to sell at almost any cost... hours from crunch-time I was ready to walk, so the agents put in a little commission and I ponied up a few thousand.