The back door or inside deals on these properties are virtually nonexistent.

@Andrew Horowitz the rules for tax lien sales vary from state to state and sometime from county to county. 1) tax liens are virtually always first sold at auction.

I invest for cash flow income as opposed to appreciation, and find that in SoCal cash-flowing rentals are virtually nonexistent. 

For 14, years I saved 50% of my income and invested virtually all of it in real estate.  

@Scott Taylor   E & O = Errors and Omissions  insurance.. virtually every realtor has it.and if you make a monetary claim against a realtor they usually turn it over to the E & O carrier if the claim is sufficient enough.. many of these policies have 5k deductables.Also in most forms and we are going through this right now on a deal I am the seller on in PA were the buyer literally backed out day of closing and wanted their 10k back.. and of course I told them no greaking way.. so we are going to mediation.. and mediation is cheap there only 250 an hour.. the buyer has not appointed an attorney and my Agents will represent me..

There is probably a better way to do this but I am just starting to wholesale virtually.

Im a wholesaler who has done a couple local deals in Denver but I've had a lot more success wholesaling houses virtually but I still want to invest locally so Ive decided to move my business into Fix and Flipping real estate in Denver and Colorado Springs.

I currently live in Fort Myers, FL so I would love to find ways to find more buyers virtually.

It does not matter if you use 3 years or 50 years (or any amount of time in between), So Cal has had a higher REI return than virtually anywhere in the US and definitely higher than any place you are buying for under $200K.  

@Christopher Giannino  virtually ever state has the same situation.. 2 years as salesmen then take the test to become a broker.in Oregon we are all brokers .. but to work for yourself or have people under you .