If you can analize how you acquire, hold, and exit and see that financing, property condition, property management, and resell strategries are favorable to you and don't seem like you will run into land mines, then the deal is good.

Knowing that the money is there for you, might give a feeling of security/confidence when negotiating with the seller and it may provide the options you mentioned (purchase the property for yourself to rent, fix and flip), quick resell to a retail or investor buyer.

#1: If I can get him to owner finance it to me thru the rehab and resell, I'll probably offer him $165k max assuming the rehab is truly $20k.#2: I'm staying in contact with them to see how things move along, but I don't foresee it happening.#3: That ship seems to have sailed, but I'll follow up later this week and again in a few more weeks to see if their buyer still comes thru.

The best deals are the ones I keep myself and resell at retail.

That said, you might do your due diligence on his property, and if it's a good enough deal, find hard money to buy it and then resell it.The first thing to find out is why he's in such a hurry to sell.When you decide to resell it, use a good, strong real estate agent.  

Does it become a mess trying to resell after flipping?

I know that to rehab and then resell I'll need to get the liens off of title.  

Alternatively, if you have access to your MLS, you can probably get this list from there and it won't cost you a dime.I'd also recommend pulling your list through a reseller because you'll likely get a better price than you do now.  

At 90% loan to value, just the time value of money and expenses of foreclosure and listing with an agent to resell after forclosure would put them in the hole even if they nailed every other aspect of the property. 

I also do Ebay on the side and make extra money that way reselling what I find at garage sales.