The property either has to go through the tax sale process, receivership, or some other program (donation, etc.) to have the liens abated. 

I've also seen houses there in prime locations that have been for sales for years and didn't sell for one reason or another, so building a spec house would also carry it's own risk. 

Scour every home site available and even sites that are not know for home sales, but sales in general - you may be surprised.

Walk a house that is for sale.8.  

Even if you are fine with carrying the high premiums during a flip, I think this really hurts your prospects on the sale.  

Find out their goals (current and post sale), desired timeline for selling/moving, where they'd like to move to next (if owner occupied), reason(s) for not already selling to an investor or with a Realtor, Plan B if they're unable to sell within the desired timeframe.let's say they've got a property that needs work and they're interested in selling.

What if I fix & flip instead of rent, can it pull actual sales comps and group by renovated and estimate the ARV?

Main questions should ask about the seller's:- Reasons/Motivations for wanting to sell- Desired timeline to close- Plan's after selling (relocation, reinvesting proceeds, 1031 exchange, etc)- Back-up plan in case they are unable to sell within the desired timeline- Reasons for not already selling to/with a investor or RealtorAdditional questions will depend on the type of seller lead i.e. pre-foreclosure, probate, fsbo, absentee owner, etc.Here is an example of a youtube search you can use to begin finding call recordings.There are 1,000s and you'll find that the best/most effective ones don't even sound like sales calls.

update the seller has taken a week+ to review our loan sale agreement (which is very cookie cutter).... finally closed on this one... will keep people updated

I have seen a few house flips where I could tell there was no effort in thinking about the functionality of the space and how that affects their sale.