I have some contacts in AL if you can give me some details.

Without data, you are open to all kinds of baloney and tricks. 

The seller mentioned he was going to contact them (seller is a licensed agent) but if I'm being honest, I'm not entirely sure what my role is here other than the fact that I am giving a check for a certain amount. 

I currently rent in San Diego and I pay my rent to a property management group, however, I am assigned a property manager (not on-site) that I can contact if I have questions.

If all else fails, looking up their broker is super easy to do, and contact them and make your complaint.

I can send you his contact info if you (now a year later) would like it!

You can contact them, but they’re not going to sell it to you....at some point they will put it on the mls or one of the REO auction sites.  

I provided personal references (realtor and former boss), but they were not contacted.

Doug I have met many mainly when I bought their home at auction because they let their kids borrow against it and blow the money.and of course in my 30 plus years of loaning HM I have seen a bunch of this activity over the years.18 months ago I had a wholesaler contact me ( which is rare because I generally wont talk to them)  but he got through to me and it was a property in Charleston SC were I build.. and the price was right .. but when I did a quick title search I saw that he had recorded a power of attorney for this lady that spelled out that he could sell the house and pay her 100k  and he was offering it to me for 196k.. so I called him on it.. and said hey there.. this lady obviously does not know what she has  the value is in the lot.. so no real up side as is unless you build a new home so for me to buy it at 196 was about market.. 

I own a lot of buildings in Houston and it’s daily (okay more than daily) that I’m contacted by an agent or a syndicator that wants to know if I have anything to sell.