Well, he died and his kids have the property, and they are having an auction house auction everything off - the house with some land, another chunk of land separate from the house (which borders my house), personal property, etc. 

Banking on appreciation is gambling.

Im familiar with some areas as Im just over the border in MN.

Some folks are willing to take the risk in the gamble for appreciation, especially here in CA, they are typically purchasing when the market is down, not high as it is now.

The way to make it less annoying is to gamble (like a dollar) with your family for which property the wholesaler wants before opening the mail.

It is not gambling per se, there are real wells with real chances of finding oil, but it is not another class B multifamily value play for sure.   

You are looking at a extreamly high risk gamble regardless of your past experience.

I've even looked up properties on my local tax assessor's website to find homes with different mailing addresses to get a feel for (what I believe) I would be doing on the daily to find deals.Today, I was driving around my area and found a house that looked vacant and abandoned; tall grass, bordered up windows..

Some people hedge their bets, and go 50/50 fixed/variable (or some other ratio according to their best gambling/research beliefs, but then focus on paying one down quicker than the other once rates actually change). 

Vegas, even though very hot in the summer, does not have a big drop in the summer because people come for the shows, glitz, gambling.