They all had revenue and vetted by empire flippers (and myself).
I figured that I could either increase traffic or use simple strategies to increase revenue and then resell them at a higher price. I’m not sure what the owners motivation was for selling. Usually to buy something bigger is my guess.
Edit: forgot to answer one question. I had just quit being a minor partner in a VC and wanted to learn about online marketing, and also realized how much I valued freedom over my time over making more money. I tried buying, holding/improving and then selling websites for a couple years. I didn’t really love it - Google’s unpredictable behavior carries way too much weight.