Otherwise, you should be more active and flip homes or develop ground up which is far from passive. 

Much of our back office is centralized / remote based, while our boots on the ground are local to the market / properties. 

The seller had the place for 10 years, in the beginning the tenant was 83 years old, figure the tenant would die in the few years, or move to a nursing home, never bothered to renew leases like 5% of $90, that he left it alone since he had 4 stores paying crazy market rents on the ground floor.

It isn't jumping out of the plane that hurts, in fact it's a pretty nice view, it's hitting the ground that does the damage. 

In-person behavior can be grounds for rejection, would suggest documenting the behavior and related risk to further protect yourself.

Most articles I've read recommend taking a trip to get boots on the ground.

., I think you are on solid ground because they won't provide their ID.

Start with a standard offer, and write a contingency into it for electricity, all the below ground utilities, and then work your way to zoning, permitting etc.

The more stoic, grounded, and educated you are the smoother the ride.I guess my point is, I'd be leery of blast marketing emails myself. 

Always excited to connect with others building something from the ground up!