A motivated seller is anyone willing to sell their house below market value.Take 100 people in foreclosure, randomly.

@Jared Khanhello - I am just going to be very direct.it doesn't make sense to use expensive money to buy a random property thousands of miles away. 

Some won't but I would want that so they aren't pulling random #'s out of the air.

Ive certainly purchased properties at serious discounts to the listing price....but it wasnt just random shotgunning of the offers.What I usually start with when trying to see if a lowball offer is appropriate is having a conversation with the listing agent first.

They have ways now to know where the oil is under the ground that are more sophisticated than random wildcat drilling.

You mentioned the roof and AC being new and i'm assuming they're in good condition.10% should be enough to cover the random water heater that goes or any other lesser headache. 

you say that you "were told to" get an STR for tax purposes, which seems odd, and that you only have 30-40K... and you might use HELOC money to help with the down payment, which will just put tremendous pressure on you to be profitable and support all of the debt.unless i am missing something i would back up and regroup before you buy a random STR in a random market and hope it supports all the debt you will have to have...

At a new member class, a random lady said that she had the gift of prophecy.

Everyone pay attention:Success to any business depends on its ability to find the right prospects, customers.Now: Find 10 random people in foreclosure.Now ask them.

But again, read the offering documents carefully as you study the investment opportunities, don’t rely on the marketplace or any random (perhaps uneducated customers google reviews) to do your diligence for you.