I've had some luck on seller financing and hard money foreclosures where the attorney conducting the foreclosure is not a major outfit working for institutional lenders.However, usually in these situations, the lender is foreclosing to clear title or wants the property back.  

If that fails then you need to have a professional waterproofing outfit come out and dig your outside walls, seal them and install a drain system around your house to move the water away.

However, I learned a lot about what a wholesale deal was, and vowed to avoid them at all costs.  18 months later, I'm no longer flipping, but enjoying the cashflow from my 4 rentals, humming along, and run into a larger wholesale outfit, which offered me a full time job.

That being said, we are not (and neither are many other turnkey outfits you'll find here on BP) in the business of gouging our clients for a quick buck. 

They do what you describe all day, every day.Join Marcus and Millichap or a similar outfit.

My partner and I also own a furniture design company and a retail design shop, so our entire VR is outfitted with high-end designer soaps, shampoos, dishes, furniture, etc.  

my perspective comes from 20 years in the space as a HML who basically created the BRRR that is famous today..the industry if you can call it that.. started in Socal with radio shows and marketing companies aligning with fix and flippers in the cash flow markets  ( Mid west  northesast deep south) areas were you have plenty of SFR's huge disproportion of renters to owners.. ( more renters less owners than CA).Some of the out fits like a Memphis Invest grew to the point that they did not need marketing companies like the ones you suggest above and there are others.In the old days it was pretty tough for the mid west guys to do this on their own and they relied almost soley on marketers for their sales..Much like me as a builder developer and retail flipper relies solely on the MLS to sell my props.the issue is the Memphis MLS does not show up on the LA MLS..

Am I missing some way of getting in touch with the smaller outfits in South Bend?

An outside outfit is buying it all from him, leaving empty shell co's (most likely) and a massive tax bill.If he owned in his personal name or trust or something else (?)

Cost of 14 seer 2.5 ton Trane unit is about 2800 bucks - the tools HVAC guys carry are about 4800$ to out fit a truck and require constant calibration, maintenance and replacement.