Someone that already works as an hourly subcontractor or maitenance person will probably be able to offer the best value if they are motivated.

In the MLS you will find every type of description of houses, for example; estate, foreclosed, vacant, motivated seller, institutional seller, REO, bank-owned, divorce forces sale, etc..  

It's far better to look for other triggers like foreclosure and defaulted taxes where the motivation is much clearer to all parties. 

The property does need a bit of work, and think I can get it at a discount from the motivated seller.

It took time to build this team but after many calls, many poor responses, many non call backs, many "we can't help you", I was able to find people that wanted to be a team and work with me.I have purchased $1000's in US real estate material, searched the internet for private money, invest time to increase my knowledge in US real estate, been on many webinars (still do) and continue to read and listen to real estate and motivational CDs.  

We do this for the money, thats the sole motivation.

I find a motivated seller who accepts my below market value offer, yet they owe more than my offer on the loan.

But if they don't want to answer your questions, maybe they're not motivated nor do they want to work with you. 

The seller is motivated and doesn't want to list with a Realtor but also isn't willing to sell at at a 30% discount because they know the house doesn't need any real work and is essentially already move-in ready.  

The first one is probably out of your reach...the second one might be something you can work out if the seller is motivated and kind.