That will get the city out to look at the house and hopefully uncover anything.3.

You may also want to check out the Property Hub - focused specifically on the UK market: https://thepropertyhub.net/If you're interested in purchasing through an investment house, I work for one that provides 'deals' and an advisory service in the regions we specialise in. 

It could just be some lipstick on a pig and you still have a number of uncovered issues.Happy Investing!

For right now, I can tell that you still need to uncover more details about how to invest, and how to ANALYZE WHAT IS A GOOD DEAL AND WHAT IS A BAD DEAL, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.

The home inspection should uncover any sins the property may be hiding.  

If you uncover that answer, it may shed some light on the investment (maybe it's good info and it satisfies my skeptical approach)I have found the biggest three seller motivations (with landlords) are:1) Tenants are subpar and current owner is tired of managing (in this, you're inheriting headaches, eviction, and much higher repair costs than you expect). 2)  An estate took over and just wants to get it gone (in which case there is probably a back balance owed that needs to be flushed out along with a general lack of property knowledge). 3)  My personal favorite: the Owner bought via tax sale deed (and therefore does not want to be a landlord, just wants his investment + reasonable return).If everything checks out, it sounds like a great deal bud.  

Pro's:- you know what you want, what to ask, where you want to buy,  and the average buyer agents who are not pro Airbnb specialists just do not know how or what to ask as good as you do, they can sometimes get in the way, I get it- you could potentially negotiate a reduction in sales price based upon the amount of the buyer agent commission, - the listing agent could work harder to put the transacation together because they are hogging the entire commission, - seller agents know the motivations of the sellers and you may be more successful uncovering motivation, or seller structuring it to work for both sides more effectively than buyer agent- the closest distance between two points is a straight line, we usually get better results dealing direct as experienced buyers, unless you have a superstar buyer agentCon's: - the listing agent commitment and fiduciary responsibility started with the seller, will they now all of sudden become truly nuetral as transaction broker?

I plan on utilizing direct mail as a primary means to uncovering deals and have a few questions for anyone who cares to answer:1.)

I can ask the guy, but he is in his early 20's and I'm afraid he either doesn't know enough about tax deeds or he may know something that he hopes I won't uncover.  

*Update* I did not get the property The home inspection uncovered way too many big ticket issues.To verify U&O I visited http://www.baltimorehousing.org/permits I also called the city and verified that the property did not have a U&O and an expired water heater permit.