Not common here unless the landlord is desperate.

I've been watching this happen, and then I found a seller who is desperate to move, and they are willing to make a deal, especially because I can buy it cash. 

I am not sure of your area but in our are the people making these offers are the desperate ones. 

@Jackson Pontsler  There are a wide variety of responses as there are a wide variety of wholesalers, so there's no broad-brush answer to that question.For those who are out there to find deals by taking advantage of desperate, or uneducated people, yes, I have a problem with that. 

Looks like somebody got a little desperate when their flips didn't work out and opted for fraud instead. 

The contractors who'll work without one are largely going to be the more desperate ones.I strongly suggest when trying out a new contractor, that you limit the scope.

Most of the owners lack cash at the moment and are in big trouble with banks, they easily sell properties 1.4-1.5$k per square meter and you can sell the property right away with cheap renovation 2.5-3$k per sq. meter to a family that is eager to move to the downtown area.Many locals are desperate to sell their properties in troubled regions like Crimea, Lugansk and Donetck to relocate to Kiev on permanent basis.

Maybe I'm over explaining what I'm doing which is coming across as desperate.2. 

When we are desperate is when we lack common sense.

You may stumble on a desperate sales manager on the last day of the month who needs a few more sales for the month to meet his quota or win the trip to Hawaii, but basically you will get retail price.