You didn't communicate (for whatever reason) and they were left holding the bag with their loss.

Amazing job getting this great deal in the bag and that too in such a short time!

I had new windows installed last summer and when I moved their furniture, I could have easily filled a contractor bag with what lived underneath and behind it.

We tend to forget often how key that can be....we often like to fake it until we make it but I think we often sometimes miss genuine opportunities by being genuine and owning our situation...there's something special about authenticity @Joshua HowaniecYes I am definitely a big fan of Grant Cardone, he's cold calling section on Grant Cardone University alone is more than a great foundaiton on how to speak to human beings....we have them watch that in addition to role playing (be hard on them so they can expect the worse and help them with objections as learning points....as Grant says the same objections are going to come up, if you do it long enough, if you can train them to identify those and learn from them and prepare on what to say next, they won't have any troubles....remember it's properties that we're talking about....there can only be so many objections...it's not as difficult as it may seem.

I trusted what he was telling me was completed without verifying it, and got stuck holding the bag for it.

And if you realllllly want to add value you can offer to do something you see that could be a potential issue.When I worked in film I would always try to spot potential issues before they were a problem; Oh, look - we're running low on bags of beef jerky and I know that the grips will get pissy if there aren't any there for them to eat when they're on their afternoon break - better have catering head to Costco to buy some more bags of jerky snack. 

Don't forget you have to pay income tax on your profit and if you bag $10,000 before taxes I would rather wipe table at Taco Bell rather than spend my time and take a risk when there are so many unknowns.

Hope you can get your first deal in the bag.

Look for signs of drug-related activity (plastic bags, needles, spoons on the property and so forth).

Vacant land can burn you if you are left holding the bag.