No magic, no tricks. 

The trick, of course, is to get into an area that is about ready to take off.

At these numbers it looks like a solid deal and based on what you've described of the area you may see better than 2% rent increases and property appreciation over time.The trick will be getting it at $600k vs. the $700k asking. 

Hope this trick helps.

<g>And why not pull this keep-the-security trick?  

It's not a trick question but it is a leading question, as they say on TV :)Basically, if you're not a real estate appraiser and/or a real estate agent and/or contractor with lots of experience then you might not know.

.*************** EDIT ******I recall now a trick from some "guru".

we are courtney and jordan harris, we are excited about real estate investing and we hope to use our current home equity to help us get our first property. any tips or tricks would be awesome!

Another trick is to search on whitepages, they may show other names that's associated with that address.

The trick is finding a truly motivated seller.