The mortgage appraisal you receive is not developed or written for what you are using it for.

Growing up on one of the Ranch's in Northern Ca my dad bought to develop 2k acres.

How do I get the phone numbers of the owners of the properties?

Talk to property managers and see if they would manage the other units.

With this route you can purchase a turn key property and expect to lease the property immediately or purchase an existing rental from an investor that doesn't require rehab and has strong numbers. 

So I would encourage you to adjust your expectations starting out and develop the discipline of saving money so that every month your net worth is higher than the month before.

I see agents and wholesalers trying to sell properties that are supposedly wholesale, but they sell at retail after it's marked up so much.

The entire teachings had gone from Nickersons conservative but a cash flowing small residential property, hopefully for 10 -15% below market, do immediate repairs, then slowly over time improve the property and raise rents, either refi cash out or trade tax free for a larger property.

Can you get access to the property in advance to verify the condition? 

Hands down other than major developers hedge funds and big time syndicators the biggest money in real estate today is the successful Guru trainer etc..