Item.Properties contains a properties string, so you'll be stuck parsing strings like in EUO. at least in C# code that's a quick enough operation for strings that size. Item labels are the actual server labels too. so even though something has graphic# X, the server might label it string Y.
Item.Properties is dependent upon receiving a properties packet for the given item. I know Razor has a habit of sending click packets for new items to gather their info, but i'm not sure under what circumstances servers will automatically send the info. i know they do sometimes. i had thought about adding in an "autoclick" feature similar to Razor's for non-Razor clients.
i never thought about it before, but i could change properties to a Dictionary<string,float> (Dictionary = generic hash table) or similar which would make it much easier to work with. i should do that later. right now i'm working on a couple scripts.
A big NOTE to users: documentation is very out of date, and possibly incorrect in some areas. documentation is high on my list of todos and i'll get around to it some day. i will have decent docs before any beta release, that i promise.