This seems to be especially true in properties on the boarder of a flood zone.  

Your true north is clearly your family.

@Michael Haynes very true you don't see much of anything under 100k unless you find a rundown Jax home but I am far from that area. 

If that is true, and if it is a low rate, it may be valuable if you sell when rates are higher.

Just to add to what @Jonathan Greene said (which is all true), there are way too many layers of red tape in short sales to make this a viable avenue for wholesaling, plus the odds of getting an appraisal to work at a number that not only profits the buyer, but a wholesaler as well - never going to happen.

So many people are told to start here with the expectations that it is easy, no credit, no money needed, etc and that is just not true (for the most part, sure any one person can get lucky and do a deal with no money but typically it takes a lot of marketing).

Def look out for anyone asking for upfront money, and if the terms sound too good to be true, they likely are.  

A true local hard money lender should be able to disburse funds in a matter of a few days. 

A true landlord is there during maintenance because they are the ones doing it. 

@Freeman Schultz that is true but if you pull money out, you can put it into another property.