The home is in aspen Colorado 1.2 miles from the Aspen Mountain Ski resort.

To check on the tenant and the house weekly to make sure the boyfriend didn't just move in or the adult kids just move in, and that bad things are not happening in your house or that your tenant didn't just move out in the night in the middle of winter and turn off the gas, but not the water.For my $15,000 which my IRA is looking to invest, I am going to get to know the major players in my market or any market.  

Maybe even a resort.

BANK is the last resort .

From a fellow Ohioian and tennis player, great work so far.

A special assessment should only be used as a last resort. 

Again, this might end up not being a bad thing for you -- it stands to reason that the higher the bar to entry, the fewer players there are.What I would do is call a lawyer in your area who loudly and proudly announced on his website that he deals with foreclosures and ask him where you should start learning about the foreclosure process in Worcester County.New Hampshire's even more interesting.

Any other advice for a new flipper is greatly appreciated, specifically in resort areas.

one or two of which could be in our favorite ski resort towns... etc... 

Networking in Chicago - where/how did you find a reliable contractor/handyman/other key players?