There are numerous reason why a developer would not want to touch it, from it not being profitable to just wanting to hold it for a year and hopefully sell at a higher price.

I also own and manage numerous properties which are being rented to American Military community members (Wiesbaden and Stuttgart).

Numerous hours spent going through the property and getting all the numbers together.  

The law says you must make numerous attempts (I think numerous is at least 3) to serve them, if still unable to serve you can post it on the door. 

Both have been mentioned numerous times by guests on the Bigger Pockets podcast and I have detailed notes to both books.

The Phoenix metro area is over 100 miles diagonally so most buyers choose an area that fits their needs regarding commute time, area, social activity, schools, price, etc depending on the buyer.Buying for 1 year does come with some element of risk if appreciation is 6% for a property and the overall selling costs (Title, Realtor etc) is 8% it may not look so good!

There is an answer to make but we have seen numerous exchanges like this that have been disallowed upon audit. 

Upon numerous mixed opinions I know certain people that swear away from it and some as Connecticut in general, and others who see its potential.

The elements/weather causes more deterioration to a unit than if it were indoors. 

The people that I work with that do this the best have small, extremely targeted lists, and mail the list numerous times and much more frequently.