And, yes, if there are additional referendums in the future then the tax rate can go up again, but that's a fundamental risk of real estate investing in any community.

Check out the web site for Dave Ramsey to get started on fixing your credit.

I searched the web looking for someone else who ran into this problem, or who could decipher it.

I'm happy to invest in improvement, but concerned about fundamental issues with the buildings that may be more difficult to address. 

You can see if they have what you need from their web site. 

Hi Kraig, I have a mobile friendly web app that would help you keep track of all of this stuff for you.

For heavily populated counties (which Orange County, CA definitely qualifies as), these are usually on the Web and free to look at. 

If you figure out finding off-market distressed properties remotely, then the rest is about effective delegation and all of the project management fundamentals (risk, scope, budget, communication, etc).

So what are the regular publications that you use, or web sights that you visit? 

We look at this metrics (among others) as fundamentals that very much so indicate a healthy market (healthy location) where not only there will be high demand for rental units but renters will actually be able to pay rent and even pay a premium for more modern (or renovated) units, giving us the opportunity to add value to our properties that way.I hope this helps.