There are plenty of tax experts on BP that can disagree with me or provide more specific advice, but my personal experience hasn't revealed any issue with being a dealer. 

So do the title work which will also reveal any other encumbrances.If you can pick this up with those numbers, that sounds like quite a deal.  

But a simple search should reveal the various lenders out there and contain some info/feedback. 

city-data.com is a great site for checking out stats on a placemacro factors to consider:population growth ratediversity and depth of economysocioeconomic and racial diversity of a populationfinancial depth (does locality have good access to capital, plenty of retail banking options, ideally investment banking level of commercial and capital fluidity)past property appreciationother important factors to consider:proximity to where you are and how that aligns with your use PM or self manage strategyactual property analysisfinancial analysisproject /rehab analysisimmediate surrounding area analysisget whatever conversations with locals you can (I've found talking to neighbors can sometimes reveal nuggets of gold)regulatory analysisget some feedback from people that have been through the process in terms of permitting/etccheck public records (my view is that the more available and the more consistent, the better)that's all I can think of for now but all have their importance and from what you've shared what makes you NOT do a deal is far more important than what makes you DO a deal. 

Landlord doesn't have to reveal that he is selling, though there is no reason not to.

I learned that the information that I researched on ROAM may not reveal all liens against a property. 

Hi chris , I'm a investor in Richmond also and I would suggest not revealing you are the owner.

A slow five-month reno-rehab revealed no current or past moisture problems.New tenants moved in a month ago during the last week of September.

Ideally home inspection should reveal these issues, right? 

Here's my podcast interview where I revealed the worst and most embarrassing mistakes I've made (so that BPers won't suffer through them).http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/04/10/bp-podcast-065-creative-investing-wendell-de-guzman/