Regarding due diligence with the owner, should I be checking newspapers to ensure that the owner has been properly notified?

Here is an excerpt from a friend & newbie "flipper" Beth Franken who is documenting her journey through her rehab/flip for Tribune newspapers, "No doubt I wonder what the heck did I get myself into sometimes.

There are also newspapers that publish upcoming sales.

You could also find where Tarrant County publishes these notices (usually a newspaper or website).You are searching for the NOTICE OF DEFAULT AND FORECLOSURE SALE.

I started saving coins when delivering newspapers in the 70's.

Other counties around the country you can get all the information you need in the local newspaper so you'll have to dig a little deeper and see what the case is for you particular county.

Posting in the various news papers was almost wasted effort (UT, Reader, PennySaver, etc.). 

Signs of gentrification are often bars/restaurants moving into an area, the demographic shifting younger, newspaper articles about the neighborhood being up and coming.  

Drywall can be glued to the wall for the cheapest option but will telegraph all the wall imperfections. 

When you knew that the tenant was in jail, then you could have posted a no trespassing sign and took a picture of it with that day's newspaper in the picture, and sent a 30 day letter to her.Also, did you do any screening of your tenant?