I have taken the seatbelt off both the living and dead in car accidents, but I can tell you they save a lot of lives. 

Seller has opted not to do any seller financing, so that option was a dead end. 

Locating can be tough, especially if they're homeless, infirm or deceased.Since dead people don't sign documents (except in fraud cases), you've then got to find the heirs, perhaps open a formal probate if the funds are large enough to require (as I've done) and deal with all the moving parts.I've made some serious money with overages however, it's not a reliable income stream and not a primary source.

Often the owner is dead, committed, incompetent, imprisoned, lost, etc.  

@William BeckGreat to see Poconos in your top three, However is it true that the STR occupancy is almost dead during spring and fall..keeping covid spikes aside.

@Jay Schultz3 of the 4 were off market deals.  2 of the buys were in the dead of winter when other people don't look so hard and there's little competition. 

And good luck, knowck ‘em dead! 

There are countless horror stories about a guest who finds a dead bug or complains about a mystery smell that gets their entire trip refunded arbitrarily by Airbnb and there is nothing you can do about it.

If you are dead set on doing a conventional loan, you could also look into a stabilized bridge loan with your, or a different hard money lender.

In the 2 decades that I have been in real estate there were times when I bought many deals via real estate agents and MLS.  Iam a Fix and Flip investor.  Meaning I need deals that have minimum 30% equity.  I have not ...