Our firm has 30 years of experience in the REO sector. 

The employment sector, while not as robust as it once was, has been creating jobs at a steady pace.

Is there a certain way to search out pre-foreclosures on a government computer?

It was supposed to be done by this month, but due to government agencies involved, it is dragging on.

What rules govern my behavior as a borrower/business?

I'm not interested in direct ownership, but think this is a RE sector that will do well in the next 5-10 years.

Where you land in that code is a personal choice not a government directive or predetermined destiny.  

Also, when I was making offers, it was just over a week before the government changed their lending rules so I either had to purchase a place or wait and save up even more of a down payment otherwise I would have been priced out of the market.  

In my opinion, yes, it can be done, but you're looking into a bigger mess as far as the government is concerned.Lets preface this with I don't know exactly how this works either, but after a certain amount of people are involved you have to report as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and have to file extra forms related to your business and also after a certain threshold you also need to report members and their distributions to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) so they know as well.Being young (as am I) you are going to run into a lot of dead ends trying to apply for a residential loan with a business name.  

Some people have told me that the government requires you to live in that property for 6 months.