If you are nearby, if you have ever been a pizza delivery person, maybe deliver a pizza to the wrong house that may or may not be the one being foreclosed on so atleast you can see inside a small portion. we used to just go knock on the door some folks would actually let you look around.

And who better than to recruit a person who is already experienced at such, which there is a lot. 

Some hotels actually have a condo like structure, where people can own the units, but perhaps are limited on their personal use to only a certain amount of the year - the rest of the year it is in the rental pool managed by the hotel.If numerous room owners stopped paying their bills, you could get tax liens on numerous separately owned units.Hotels are a tough business, an issue I also see come up with them often is that they require refreshes, expensive and relatively often - at least once every 10 years, if not more often. 

The second part is very personal and different for everyone. 

@Jesse Streng  It’s definitely important to have a dependable person here in the city.

I personally know the person that owns the property and am close friends with him.

The best way to learn about how to really invest in real estate is to read books, listen to good podcasts, and pair that with going to in-person meetups so you can see people just like you, married with 3 kids, who are making it work for them.

The loan does need to be secured by the property being improved if we are talking about a personal residence and personal itemized deductions on Schedule A.

From personal experience, this can motivate them to do a final deep clean before handing over the keys.Finally, for peace of mind, you might consider consulting a local real estate attorney.

When all the dust settles, and the  person searching is tired and discouraged and gives up, Jerry may not have bought  a single lot, but he's made some money from the training he sold you, which was his main goal from the beginning!