The area is on the busline near a university and the listing says is popular with grad students.  

I think your best bet for seller finance is fisbo's or distressed sales.

Your best bet is to find out the auction date and go.   

Do you guys think it might eventually expand to that area as well once all the other areas start getting too popular/expensive for renters?

There was a poll on this a few months back.The traditional route-- 10-25% down loan with personal guarantee--was popular as was moving on from a primary residence/house hack: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/25/topics/390...Holds true for me.

They don't just jump up and grab you, but it's a fair bet that active investors in your area know people with retirement accounts who are looking for safer investments and less volatility than the stock market.Network with other investors.

If they only post the registered agents info your best bet would be a skip tracer.

;) MFR purchases are really popular right now and perfect for buy and hold.

The property has to be your primary residence for 2 of the last 5 years to get a section 121 exclusion on capital gains of $250K/$500K (single/married) But I bet he doesn't want to live there for the next 2 years. 

I believe my best bet is to refinance to a conventional loan and try to get another FHA loan.