Is he or she just looking for a sucker to unload this lemon on, practically sight unseen?

What also makes me pause is, even though this is a small rural town, there is another seller trying to unload an 11 unit complex, who sounds equally as motivated.

There are plenty of baby-boomers unloading properties they no longer want as they head for Florida.  

A deep and wide market for sub-prime MBS's was created and that meant banks could lend to anyone with no approval criteria and unload the risk quickly and easily. 

Wells, Citi, BoA unload and sold the notes to other lenders who are in the foreclosed business.  

My niche is creating opportunities  for literally 100's of families to make an income on my projects.its the trickle down.. from the home depot.. to lumber yards etc etc..

It will be December by then and will probably be even tougher to unload. 

It is easy to tear stuff up, and you will save a pretty penny if you do so.Go to the home depot, home emporium, lowes, lumber liquidators, everywhere and get your prices on paper.Labor is expensive, but if it sounds like a ridiculous number, it probably is. 

These homes range in our build cost so much, yet we use the same lumber, framing crew, sheetrock crew, painting crew, subs, etc.  

Typically a short sale is a process by which the seller can unload the property with the banks permission knowing they (bank) aren't going to get what they're owed.