With the home on the market the owner probably had a lawn service keep the grounds up, but not go into the house. I know with the deer carcass it must be flattened now, as I cannot see anything from the road, so it may be a maintenance guy didn't see anything. If the wind was in the wrong direction he wouldn't have smelled anything either. The reports are saying that JM knew this area well, so it doesn't surprise me that he would know that it is vacant. Plus I believe the owner was involved in an auto accident and everyone would have known that. I think that the location is ideal actually. It is vacant but not far from other homes, but had access from the adjacent park,(daytime access). Yet if he wanted to drive up the driveway at 3am and park behind the house, he would not be seen. And fishing was the perfect cover for prowling around the area
Edit to add: And with his learning curve escalation, learning from Morgan Harrington, the water nearby would be ideal to help dispose of the evidence.