Find out what their pain is, if they tell you that a sale at their asking price is their only option they aren't being honest with you or themselves.

I know they're a pain!

it could be a easy fix or a big pain later.  

They look nice but are a real pain to assemble- box in a box. 

I feel your pain, as I'm self-employed as well. 

If the property is vacant, unanswered by a sale, or rent, then this too helps the seller's motivation to consider creative financing.In order to "calibrate" your offer, you should understand the seller's pain points if possible. 

@Christian Hall It pains me to say this but I would never invest there.

So things that are customary in certain locations regarding closing costs, treatment of taxes, etc. have to be manually explained and advocated for, which makes the closing process more painful than when dealing with local title companies and realtors. 

The biggest pain is that there's a specific number that a bank wants to get called the Reserve. 

Conceivably if I can keep rehabs at 2 months or less, with the dollars I have at hand I can take over 6 properties a year, with additional funding could do correspondingly more.I thought about offering the current owner a remaining stake in the properties if they would meet a price I can work with/seller finance/mentor/some other value, percentage would vary based on the numbers but it would be at or less than 25% that way they could get the cash infusion to move up to larger units but also maintain a stake in the cash flow and appreciation of the units when sold.