Even as a new investor, every body has some type of value to offer, it could be money for one of his investments (which could be less than you ever think it has to be), could be time and effort that you can offer him to find more deals or maybe you have a construction background. 

If you scan multifamily listings in Oakland (which I do periodically) I'm always struck by a) deferred maintenance, and b) tenants who are stubbornly stuck in place and whose units are really run down and living in bad conditions.

Or better yet, also search names and message body too?

@Don Gouge I agree that older homes pre-1970’s can be a liability.

Don't use excel to manage all leads. it's possible, yes. but you're going to run into issues and ain't no body got time for issues!

As the others here mentioned before, it's critical to check with the local planning commission and city/county governing bodies.  

But the weird thing is no body knows who pays taxes, even on record the seller said; "yeah I was confused about that for the past 10-15 years"

Ask for a scan of their drivers license if you proceed.Are you sure they are changing employers? 

This is typically the case here in the Bay Area, too.Typing Alexandria Louisiana in the body of a post so that locals to OP, hopefully, can chime in and tell us how it is in LA.

I have been scanning the MLS, working with wholesalers, and contacting FSBO's everyday to try and find more deals for us, but it has been very difficult, especially with the current market we are in.