Tell the "cash buyer" to either put up or shut up and beat it!  

Obviously no one will remember your number driving to the cinema, or restaurant.

I began posting scam alerts on his rinky-dink FB page and he's since shut it down.

Shut the water off where it enters the house. 

Library, movies, restaurants, farmers market, trader Joe's all easily walkable. 

I'm not sure what the outcome was/is but I know at least one person who shut down her AirBnB based on it.  

If you just say can I wholesale a lot of real estate professionals do not understand what you are really saying and will shut your question down by saying NO as a first reaction with out thinking. 

You will get copies of past due bills and are notified of pending shut off dates. 

If there is a component missing (fixture) there really will not be a good way to test the system unless you can shut off the supply line to it and prevent the air from escaping there.

I am hesitant to even consider a sale, as Google has just bought up a big chunk of land not ten minutes walking from the property and plans to build a campus, shopping, restaurants, etc.