This is a good place to start as they have the more experienced staff there and you don't have to have such a defined idea of what you want.They will look up these tools amongst other things (these tools are awesome btw):http://zimas.lacity.org/http://navigatela.lacity.org/navigatela/There you'll get a load of information from zoning to issues related to the property to details of the property to services in the area, whether it's a landslide zone, hydrants, sewer, RSO, Ellis Act and much more.

Define broker.

If I can keep the property from being forclosed upon, then I would definately be ready to list it with a realator.

The podcasts are a great way to learn (the most recent one is with a guy from Maryland, so something that would definitely interest you).Learn, define your strategy, goals, and of course, take action!

I specifically focus on retail these days but in the past did larger apartment buildings but they are cap rate compressed now for the most part.To find a broker or agent you need to define what it is you are trying to do.My clients minimum purchase 1 million or higher in price.

A Protected Tenant is a tenant who has continuously resided in a rental unit for at least ten years, and is either: (i) 62 years of age or older OR (ii) disabled as defined in Title 42 United States Code Section 423 or handicapped as defined in Section 50072 of the California Health and Safety Code.

It is a bit easier to define and work on a niche in residential properties.I personally wouldn't focus on the speed of acquiring the money,  and place more of the focus on the consistancy of earning money.

When you sell a rental property at some point in the future (at least a year out), this is not viewed as a flip transaction, but rather just a reallocation of the IRA from holding passive real estate to holding cash.Your example of buy, fix, rent for 3 months, then sell would likely be viewed as a flip, especially if you repeated this pattern with multiple properties.The IRS does not define a "flip" in clear terms, but has a full set of measures they would apply to real estate transactions to determine whether something is a passive investment or a trade or business activity similar to competing commercial enterprises.  

Keep in mind we knew we were buying a fixer upper.Just FYI, NOI is defined as expenses before P&I payments. 

Define goals and network.