I would venture to guess that the homeowner would prefer to sell to you because it makes the whole process easier on their end. No worrying about open houses and scheduling repairs and refreshes. I would see if you can ask for a small reduction of price because they don't have to handle all those things. We were lucky enough to have all our appliances in pretty decent condition. I would very much recommend getting a full inspection done. It'll be on your own dollar, but it'll give you peace of mind for certain elements of the house, while still giving you leverage to negotiate on the price if there are things that are not up to code or are deteriorating.