It can end up having a negative effect once you realize how much there is to know about real estate.

I also relisted it for $75 *higher* effective now (7:20pm 8/28).How does it look now?

The One Thing, The Compound Effect, anything from Napolean Hill, and Tim Ferriss' books Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors are some of my favorites.

Don’t waste your time trying to read someone’s mind.....just make your offer.....then in a month make the same or lower offer. 

More to the point, the amount of debt through refinancing/cash out financing has No effect on the sellers cap gain tax.

I had it in writing at 60k so it was frustrating to see especially after paying my lawyer for the initial contract which was simply a waste of money if he had no intention of selling it on contract in the first place. 

Asking Price 215000 Primary Inputs Purchase Price($) $ 190,000.00 Downpayment(%) 3.5% Units(#) 2 Monthly Rent($) $ 1,150 Occupancy Rate 75% 30 Year Loan Rate(%) 4.50% 15 Year Loan Rate(%) 3.90% Secondary Inputs Closing Costs(%) 6.0% Property Tax(%) 1.8% Insurance(%) 0.8% Maintenance(%) 10.0% Property Management(%) 10.0% Improvements($) $ 20,000.00 Closing Costs($) $ 11,400.00 Inspections/Misc($) $ 600.00  Value (30-Year Mortgage Scenario) Monthly Rent $ 1,725 Annual Rent $ 20,700.00 Value Per 2% Rule $ 86,250 Value Difference (2% Rule) $ (103,750) Annual NOI $ 13,800 ROI (Pre-Tax) 8.36% ROI (Post-Tax) 8.1% CAP Rate (50% Rule) 7.3% CAP Rate (Assumed Expenses) 6.0% Annual Expenses Annual Property Taxes $ 3,420 Annual Maintenance $ 2,070 Annual Insurance $ 1,520 Property Upkeep/Other $ 200 Property Management $ 2,070 Total: $ 9,280  30-Year Mortgage Results Money Down $ 38,650.00 Monthly Gross Rent $ 1,725.00 Monthly Loan Pmnt $ 929.01 Effective Rental Income $ 20,700.00 Annual Loan Pmnts $ 11,148.09 Annual Expenses $ 9,280.00 Total Expenses + Loans $ 20,428.09 Annual Cash-Flow (Pre-Tax) $ 271.91 Annual Return (Cash-Flow + Equity, Pre-Tax) $ 3,229.76 Annual Post-Tax Cash-Flow (Pre-Tax) $ 190.34 

If you are prepared don't waste your effort worrying.  

When I find records like this, how would I know if they still owe without wasting my money and time skip tracing them and bothering the owner over an issue that may be resolved already?  

Instead of lying to realtors, using bogus weasel clauses, and wasting time and money on asset protection, find a mentor that can show you how to source deals.