Quote from @Daniel Baltazar: with both properties they sat on the market for around 4 months with big price reductions for both. the average days on market That sounds like a lot of pain!

I am looking to buy the ugly duck on the block that can grow equity and have stable cash flow- about $500/month.

You have to either get lucky, have an unfair advantage, or do the necessary blocking and tackling to find situations that create deals.

I want to contact the owners of tax deeds /pre foreclosure before they hit the auction block.

I do like the photo thing, but it's a pain in the ***.  

It's doable as a market to do what you want, but you must understand the block dynamics if you are going for Chicago proper.

How can I unsub or block these annoying emails?

If you can find a very similar property (properties) within a few blocks that is golden....but you will find that often there will be few, or sometimes none, within a close proximity.This is when your talent will come into play.

You'll want to saturate that subfloor with some enzymatic cleaner and possibly some odor blocking paint thereafter if it smells really bad. 

If you insist on DIY managing, you are in for a long and painful learning curve.