I don't necessarily think you shouldn't approach the seller with SF as an option, but you need to talk with them and get to know their needs and be able to craft an offer that addresses those.

Start with the address and details about the rental.Create a section for tracking the lease information.

I do recommend very strongly before you go buying the same list everyone else is buying and worry too much about dialers and the such that you take the very first right of passage that I believe every investor should take.DRIVING FOR DOLLARS.This is also probably one of the lowest cost of entry while also being one of the surest paths to success.Simply start going through the B and C areas of your town and start looking for signs of distress and abandonment.Look for the tall grass, homes that you can see right through at the windows, homes with no curtains and no furniture inside, damaged mailboxes, mailboxes with no doors, missing mailboxes, cars with expired tags which have obviously not been moved in quite awhile, etc…Once you have found 20-50 addresses, look them up on the county’s property appraiser.Here is a link to a site that will pull up the property appraiser, clerk of courts and tax collector for every county in the country. 

Address is a PO box shared space not an office.

This addresses the question of to what degree is it rentable after they leave.3. 

While I believe you to have enough cash to do an FHA on a small-plex of some sort, all your qualification questions can be addressed with a local lender.

It rewards creative ones:offers that address timing,offers that solve payment stress,offers that restructure debt,offers that give sellers a way out without blowing up their finances or pride.In slow markets, most buyers wait.The ones who win step forward.If you’re an investor or buyer sitting on capital, this is not the moment to be passive.

I'm a software engineer working on a tool that allows landlords to connect to the bank accounts of potential tenants to verify their income, employment, previous addresses, and their identity.

I can run a complete financial breakdown showing you:- Exact monthly cash flow (with real comps)- Whether this property actually makes sense as an investment- What red flags to look for- What you should offer (might be less than $165k)If you want me to analyze this specific property with the exact address, I can deliver a full report in 24 hours.

But if you can position it well for weekend & corporate stays, an hybrid model (STR + MTR) is worth exploring too.If you want, I can help you run a quick income projection based on current rent comps/occupancy estimates — just drop some info on neighborhood or address!