I was told that there are crucial elements of investigating a property before even attempting to buy it.

Also, from my investigation, it seems that I might not be eligible since I do not have a 'business'.

We pay around $1300 a month on the mortgage, though it looks like we'd only be able to rent it for $1200 right now...but that is based on very preliminary information from Zillow and Redfin.

I just opted out of a REO deal since the bank would not provide access to the crawl space under the home to investigate and estimate the cost to stabilize the settling that was obvious from inside the home.

The key to making offers is the preliminary analyzing of the area.

Personally I would investigate various passive investments and invest only a small percentage in any one project or investment thus diversifying yourself.

Spend the time and money to investigate the areas you are considering and get going on the purchase sooner than later.

After more investigation turns out it was 540k.

But, the investigators with Smart Money couldn't find any records of them.

If you are good at finding leads and doing research, it may be a viable route.Though, you probably want to investigate this a little further as it pertains to your area.