There are a lot of great resources here and around the web for people looking to invest in Birmingham.

I'm also considering Halethorpe because it's a good commuter location.Some people really like supporting the city in which case , northeast Baltimore would seem to the best place to buy a single family, in my opinion given the taxes situation and given that none of those areas are walkable I’d rather just be in the county and pay Lower taxes, and it’s not like northeast Baltimore is much that much cheaper than Baltimore county, hathorpe is mixed, arbutus is nice, I hate the housing stock there, would rather be in Catonsville if I was considering western Baltimore county. 

I've had people tell me not to worry about it and to just do it, and I've had other people say the bank will call the loan due.

That's how I started, with a company called Flip More Deals (currently called the Growth Collective) they were very hands on and helped me through the entire process and connected me with a lender and gap funder, very hands on you should check them out.

Quote from @Jim Vasica: I would get some people out there to quote it..

But for many people, it is one of a number of sources of deal flow, to add to MLS listings, wholesalers, direct owner outreach, auction, etc.Assuming you are specifically talking about sheriff auctions, just make sure you familiarize yourself with the general procedures for the auction.  

The most important thing is to know the details of your local program like the back of your hand, then look for loopholes.Just to give you and the other BP'ers a deeper handle on why some TDR programs work and some don't, I just uploaded an excellent study on the topic to my FilePlace at http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/ChrisNewma...

Maybe also consider if they are "good people" that work in the community and just want a safe place to raise their family. 

I also have some capital to contribute.Could someone explain how syndications are typically structured, and how are people using Other People's Money (OPM) to build large portfolios with little to no money down?

I help people get funding (mostly through Chase) with good terms like 0% interest for the first year.