Paper trails and rational conduct make it easy for them. 

If you are bargaining with someone on anything by asking this simple question, you can find the rational and thought process.

I hope to pull the trigger in one of these markets with my first investment property this year, so it shall be determined as to whether the rational hold true.

They will open escrow, do a title search, lien search, issue a title insurance policy, calculate pro-rations, order payoffs, prepare a settlement statement, record the deed, etc. as part of the closing process.I AM ONLY EXPLAINING THE PROCESS HERE...THE FOLLOWING IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL ADVICE, WHICH I AM NOT QUALIFIED OR LICENSED TO GIVE - CONSULT AN ATTORNEY FOR THAT.But, yes, assuming your contract calls for clear title (a good example is the Florida Realtors Vacant Land Contract, paragraph 7), then yes - you could conceivably make an offer using similar terms, and once you and the seller have agreed to terms and signed the contract, you could take the contract to the title company and they would work their magic.The title company would let you and the seller know what they uncover during the title search, lien search etc., and the onus would then be on the seller to settle any outstanding liens at closing (assuming they are less than the purchase price, they could come out of the seller's proceeds on the settlement statement and be paid by the title company).

I'm trying to be objective here and rational oh and did I mention it would be my first flip.

The only pro-ration is if you meet one of the exceptions.  

Or better yet, leveraging that up to buy 20-30 properties in any rational market (not Toronto or Vancouver)....

One could simply be he doesn't have the money to make his note payment, and no one has come along to solve his problem for him (not everyone makes rational decisions all the time).

I need to thing handled like this week or this month”Now we have a true motivated seller and they’re going to be motivated to listen to you the Real Estate Solutions Provider, and to be agreeable to your creative offer.Logic does not sell, emotion sells.And remember one other thing: We buy for emotional reasons, we rationalize and defend our purchases with logical reasons.Think about buying a car, you don’t think about the total payments, you think about how it feels and the status you get.So keep the motion high when you doing this 3rd step.

And, CoC is a use of cash performance ration, not an asset ratio not a liquidity ration or an equity ratio.