It is a get rich slower scheme, but with less risk.How do you figure a paid-off property throws off more cash (per month, yes, but in comparison to how much you put down?)

There's a word for that - I'll let you figure it out.

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.

Or they have it figured out and are going to cure via paying or modification etc etc. 

@Andrew Steffens the pool of buyers that have six figures of cash (you really need about $150k in cash to buy a $500k STR), have some subject matter expertise, AND want to self manage is even smaller. 

@Kris Lou Be careful with agents as 95%+ of them really only know how to handle owner-occupied transactions.We don't do biz in Indianapolis, so this is unbiased info we hope you find useful:Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

I am researching a project and doing an extensive property visit next month on a project that yields well over six figure in revenue. 

I should have figured out it was a scam because of every reason you listed.

However, a few things you could do: You could talk with them & learn more of their story to figure out why their credit score is low as well as the type of people they are.

ya those are totally open ended questions your going to have to figure it out from here on your own or with someone else chiming in..