I negotiated to 105k.It was a bankruptcy sale and the listing said access was not allowed and the property had to be bought site unseen.I was buying from overseas, so I figured site unseen worked for me.I paid cash, so there has been no holding costs.Once it closed, I sent a contractor I’d used a few times before to get inside.The contractor speaks zero English and also can’t use a phone or google translate.

Being an OOS investor I spend so much time on Zillow, Realtor, and especially google so I can virtually “walk” the streets.

They use google voice, the use fake or texting apps to shield their phone numbers etc.My question is has anyone else come across this and have you put any safe guards in place to protect property or potential resident from the scam?

@Patrick BlankenshipIt is definitely worth 20 minutes of google and researching but the highlights include a slightly higher VA funding fee for the second and on properties under your VA entitlement.

There are a couple of ways: 1) property records will have names that you can google and you may get lucky; and 2) if the property is owned through an LLC the Secretary of State's office will have annual reports that will have a registered agent that you can contact.

Does anyone have anything other than Zillow Rental, Rentometer, google, that might be able to give me some data? 

I currently already have google voice, but I've heard complaints about this and recommendations for CallRail.

I found that he has two properties, a duplex and a single family, that are  actually in pretty good shape from what I can tell on Google maps.  

No, they ask Mother Google!

@Sean Lambert Also, from what I can see on google maps.