My biggest concern is it would be considered a short sale and short sale fraud is the most investigated crime by the FBI right now.

Since you will hold the property, you definitely want to investigate the area to see what type of tenant would be attracted to the area.Best of luck!

As to the numbers, I simply glance at rents X 12 and divide by 10% to get a starting point and your listed price comes in well below that so it is worth investigating.

I completely agree with the value of boots on the ground, so I plan to invest in the part of town I already know and send an observant friend to investigate any properties that look like a great deal. 

I've been investigating Israeli Tama-38 projects lately, and I'm curious to know if anyone else has ever invested in one and if so what their thoughts were.

I need to see the inside and investigate further so that I can really see how they compare.

Unless the buyer is a private investigator, it’s worth the potential cost to hire the title company to do the investigating related to the title of the property.  

Do either of you guys have certain criteria you look for that would suggest a deal is at least interesting and deserves further investigation?

I mentioned this to the zoning people when I went into the office and they were basically like "well we investigate when someone reports something". 

INVESTIGATE everything, don't assume anything.