They were more motivated.

People who have real reasons (motivation) where they do not or cannot fix up their houses, they don't want to list them, and they want to move quickly. 

If they are moving, they are motivated and need to move.

What are some ways things could be structured so as to motivate my seller to act more quickly on what needs to be done before she can legally sell?

Handwritten bandit signs easiest way to get motivated leads 

I still do deals here in Maricopa County but our marketing dollars go a lot further in Cook County (Chicago), the sellers are extremely more motivated and the market is still in transition so in certain areas the deals are plentiful

Currently there are properties with motivated sellers.

You most likely will not have to accept that person as there is an incredibly high correlation of a repeat offense after a first one.

@Iyey Nur mention to them that you're planning to lawyer up, might be just the motivation they need to look a little harder.

@Jim Roach As you start peeling back the layers on this big stinky onion, I am sure you will find plenty of rot and incredible costs if you need to foreclose, evict, trash out, and repair the typically junky properties to junky borrowers that force someone to write a CFD on that need $30k to make then worth $30k.