So, if you were looking at 100 listings on Loop Net, you can quickly use this to get the list down to 10 or less potential properties that appear on the surface to be reasonably price.  

We do pay Elite on the back end, but they have ALL of the skin in the game.As the owner, my role is to recruit agents, train them, provide structure and accountability, identify the obstacles that slow them down, demolish those obstacles and then to get the heck out of the way.I absolutely love this business and love even more helping agents to make an unreasonably high income.  

Keep scrubbing and they'll surface.

Smaller banks and commercial lenders may allow an assumption but rarely as they would rather make a new loan and an assumption may not have any new buyer's skin in the game, not a good lending practice.

Whether they want out, whether they are willing to still have skin in the game (i.e. do they still have confidence in the property to make money...sometimes tells you a lot about the property itself), and sometimes it tells you just how low they are willing to go on price to just get out.  

Clearly, there is money to be made purchasing distressed properties, making minimal repairs, and renting them out to Section 8 and VA voucher recipients, but this doesn't necessarily help stabilize a community because the residents have no skin in the game.

Consider checking out your local REIA meetings and teaming up with a mentor to help you get some skin in the game. 

Personally, I would want to have enough skin in the game (equity) so if I needed to unload it, I wouldn't suffer a loss; but that's just me.

I know I'm just scratching the surface with knowledge and will continue to educate myself via those means as well as real life experience soon.  

On the race subject, personally, I believe if an individual is skeptical of you because of the color of your skin than there is nothing you can do to build credibility with this person.