The question i want to ask here is how do you consistently find these burnt out deals?

There is no "responsibility" to report to the credit bureau by you the mortgagee (creditor).

And, you're not in one of those turn key deals that seem to consistently work out badly.

The last thing you want is to report it as a capital gains transaction and have the IRS audit three years from now and reclassify it.

Offer a Free Report like on techniques to avoid foreclosure and have the site optimized for your local market.20.

So one can proactively go to the tax assessors' office in your city and do research to determine whether there is a lien or other negative report that would start a negotiation process this is public information -- superficial at first but then once trust is built  with a series of phone calls or visits -- request a "certified document on the first year status of the property in question and in relation to a tenant's payment history.

It won't give me a credit score or report, but comes back if it meets the minimum requirement.

You have to get oit there consistently and see the aprks, talk to the people, talk to managers/owners and respond to ads.

You need to know your score for all three.Different creditors pull from different agencies depending on where their headquarters are located.I have seen point variations in the hundreds of difference per agency before.The reason is people have similar names etc. and info gets reported incorrectly or to the wrong file.

I see and report on 100s of properties monthly and personally have seen it all in REOs and the horror show of humanity that goes with that.