My particular method unfortunately is grab a chair, photo copy everything, and spend a lot of time trying to decipher exactly what the "official" stats on a building are.Anyone have a time saving idea for going about this?  

That being said this particular guy sounds a little slippery.

Is there anything in particular that's actually generating leads?

Even if I don't pursue this particular property, I want to be better educated for the next time a similar opportunity comes along.

That will give you a much better picture of return for your efforts and allow you to compare just how much the $6k difference will make.Comments regarding paying full retail, keep in mind that J Scott is more of a flipper and his comments were likely based on that judging from his post, in a buy and hold scenario, often times, paying full or over retail will likely not get you cash flow which is why it is so important, particularly in this competitive market, to get a good deal and buy under market to achieve the cash flow returns worth the efforts.

Personally I'm a big believer of Cashflow clubs, particularly for newbies.

Bringing more tools to the table increases the ways you can make money from an opportunity (particularly if it doesn't conform to a particular premeditated strategy).I recommend licensing to anyone starting out--as it gives you a baseline education and a degree of immersion into the industry for relatively little cost (less than a weekend with a guru).Good luck!

Is there anywhere in particular that you'd recommend?  

This particular house has been vacant for 9 years because of fire, neighbors know everything lol the owner explained the same to Me as well.

If unoccupied leave a note or better yet, go to the post office and see if they have a forwarding address.The fastest and easiest method to locate buyers and sellers is to use a listing service such as ListSource.com, where it will provide you with a list of  buyers/sellers narrowed down to zip code in a particular zip code.