He has had 2 contracts fall through on the house because of small things like some soft wood around windows, windows painted shut, and a small dip in the floor of the master bedroom.

Im not entirely sure you need a private eye but it does help to brush up on your own intel gathering skills.

All different kinds of sellers with some listing prices very soft, much softer than on homes MLS.Actually bought only one deal from info on Loopnet - it is a Retail/Warehouse.

@Keaton SmithYou might want to get a soft pre qualify for the loan financing through a few different banks (for you as the borrower) if your planning on conventional financing/refinancing.

These can be tricky areas to invest in as they tend to bubble and the market goes soft when a ton of investors get in... this just happened in Fountain Square and Bates-Hendricks over the last couple of years.

I'm looking at my first deal and my broker is telling me the deal makes sense , even though it's cash flow negative... he says (and I agree, with some reservations) it makes sense from an appreciation standpoint.

It...

One thing I heard a few times is there are so many new developments in areas such as the Carolina's that the rental market can get soft fast. 

Reputable lender who is easy to work with on front-end & also on an ongoing basis during servicing - no bait & switch soft quote then change terms, no loan to own type outfits/predatory loan docs, streamlined annual reporting, etc. 2. low long term rate (preferably 30 yr locked fully amortizing), 3. ability to harvest some built-up equity w/cash out (not necessarily max this out would run numbers on various scenarios), 4. then several other secondary-level type terms to consider in overall picture: competitive upfront fees/closing costs, pre-payment penalty length/terms, recourse/non-recourse, assumable/not assumable, max LTV, desktop vs full appraisals, etc. 

That, coupled with soft wood in places, etc.

A sharp colleague of mine calls it a “soft pass”Working towards their motivation is the key to understanding why the price is what it is.