Then I found out about more red flags, like that he would randomly be standing outside cursing at himself and other strange behavior.

I'm thinking my next steps could be (in random and no order, and disconnected-- looking for advice here):- start calling the properties, say I'd like to purchase their house, and see where the conversation goes.

Other than that, might be short term random variation. 

., a war in Europe, a CEO scandal or even a random tweet by an executive (like Elon Musk). 

You choose.Now, someone up here was right about making random offer to 1) try the market 2) to feel warm a fuzzy with the process to get that anxiety out of you.

@Todd BaldwinHow are you going to randomly cold call some church and ask for rent money for your tenant?

But I'm just a random guy on the internet... 

They also had random shotty repairs performed around the house without out consult and they are terrible and will need to be replaced. 

If I took a random stab for a flip that price would be would be 65% of ARV- cost of a full gut renovation to minimize risk and ensure there is some level of profit, but I am just a random investor and don't have to deal with a nightmare 8 year vacant property and the rehab headache that might follow.

He also takes frequent random days/weeks off, starts work at 10am, takes a 2-hour lunch/gym break, stops work at 3pm, spends more time playing than working.