The goal is to create a lease option wholesale deal that will require a $10,000 non-refundable deposit from a tenant buyer that will go towards the purchase price, which will be $110,000.

Could they have been shut off for non payment?

Go to google maps and look at satellite picture and 'walk' down the street and see what businesses are next to his and contact them and ask, if the business is still in existence . 

If they do not understand the market, regardless of the purchase price, you'll hard pressed to find a non-local lender to fund the deal unless they are Fannie / Freddie sponsored.

Applicant must be a non-smoker.

However to simply contact a realtor about a property that you may not be interested in working with them on, Chances are they won't entertain it unless you have built some existing rapport. 

The initial goals of the workshops would be to present information to open them into the concepts of using retirement money for investing, and to provide them with the sites of the companies that are admins/custodians of these type accounts, so they can do additional research, and to also point them to the SEC info.In holding these workshops, I'm looking at establishing “Pre-Existing” and “Substantive” Relationships; realizing that this is a long-term strategy.With the idea of it being passive for the investors, my thought is for them to invest in my LLC, and then the LLC buys assets, which I'm thinking to focus on commercial; possibly businesses with strong cash-flow that are also selling real estate as part of the transaction.I'm also thinking, in the workshops, to possibly include those with equity in their properties.

This includes documenting the existing conditions to ensure they don't damage the property when they move and deposits.   

Most existing MFR I've seen in the markets I'm looking in are in C+ to C- communities.

Not sure about NY, but in PA, pet deposits are non-refundable to the tenant.