I would get a google voice number to give out to tenants because I can control when they rings and when I receive messages etc.

Q4 2022 was the best time to buy though, for example 3/1 in sunnyvale located next to google office listing for 999k, comp is 2Mil.Recently sold flipped in 95051 has gross profit of half million dollar just for 3/2 setup.Bay Area is the best market for everything for folks with strong business acumen, opportunity is everywhere.These homes are usually purchased long time ago and the current senior owner can't no longer maintain the house, the story is very similar from one to another.

They charge only $499/0% listing  commission or just Google Flat Fee Listing. 

Google ads and Facebook ads.I hope this helps.

You can also find real estate investing groups through meetup.com, facebook, or a Google search.

Search on google and your state and "white paper" on tax liens.   

---So, learn the neighborhoods where you plan to invest and use Google Streetview to virtually explore them.3) Poor Tenant Screening - they typically can't sell a property until they place a tenant.

As far as you saying you don't know if it's in an HOA, it likely is, given how you described it and that shouldn't be hard for you to figure out just by looking at a Google Earth map (sometimes the name of the community will appear), or pay a local person off Craigslist to go drive it and find out the community name, take pictures of the lot, etc. 

In terms of the actual *mortgage* county tax, if you google NYS Mortgage Tax rate form MT-15, you will find a several page document that will highlight your tax rate depending on which NYS county you're purchasing in. 

Kroc but a quick google search and you'll get the idea.