If there is a strong short sale offer in play or in escrow, then you have a good chance of delaying the sale.

I would strongly suggest that you learn about operating expenses and cash flow BEFORE you buy anything.

You have financially astute banks armed with armies of analysts vs. financially naive borrowers who are being strong armed by an industry who has a product to sell.

If your offer is good/strong/realistic, any agent with common sense will make it happen.

And I'm not sure if he wants to continue cleaning...It's not really a STR market...up in Buffalo, NY which is why I never considered it, but the PM said there was strong demand in the summer because of Niagara Falls and in the winter, with youth hockey leagues, the Bills, etc. 

I live here in Cleveland and people are flying in from California and New York in droves because the cost of entry here is so inexpensive, but the market is hot and stable with an extremely healthy demand for housing from strong working class population.For $20k here in Cleveland you could pick up a, 3-5 bedroom rehab.

FSBO Sellers are typically the type that are head-strong and greedy, which is why they are selling on their own in the first place.

Many of the markets I am seeing at present are looking extremely strong for multifamily apartments.

For this reason, I chose a real estate investing strategy that will require less of a time commitment to manage and is suitable to allowing me to "retire" early.

One deal does not supercede a strong player in a long term plan.