Hope my fellow BP'ers can help, as I am having some issues. 1) given the property being sold as-is and after pulling OPRA report from the city it seems the property has several opened violations/penalties2) I tried speak to the city building department about how I can resolve these violation: " illegal basement apartment" and "no permits for additional unit built in the back of the house" - fines are in hundreds of thousands and have been outstanding for couple of yearsCan you please advise if anyone know anyone who can assist with getting these questions resolved ? 

Absolutely no felonies, evictions or outstanding housing debts.

If the tenant doesn't pay the bill by the time they send me their rent, I will deduct the repair from the rent, when they do send it to me, as I have stated in my Lease Agreement that any money received in my office will be applied to any outstanding bills first.  

IN our state you can get monthly fee's as low as 199 a month. the 2 year experience seems to be about nationwide Right now my wife works at a broker who charges flat fee of 1k per month and its full service and include E and O.. she will hit her minimum in one to two months usually then the rest of the year no fee at all.

In those cases, I make a tenant pay those outstanding collections and bring me proof of payment.  

Also, it does not sound like it, but you may run into some problems if their are any outstanding lawsuits.4) The Bay Area market has done very well these past couple of years.

Have you checked to see if there is any outstanding mortgage or other liens, taxes owed on the property that might make it unfeasible to get a good deal to buy it now?

Increase in Family Size - A borrower may be eligible for another house with an FHA-insured mortgage if the borrower provides satisfactory evidence thatThe has had in increase in legal dependents and the property now fails to meet the family’s needs; andThe loan-to-value (LTV) ratio on the current principal residence is equal to or less than 75% or is paid down to that amount, determined by comparing the outstanding mortgage balance to a current residential appraisal.Vacating a jointly-owned Property - A borrower may be eligible for another FHA-insured mortgage if the borrower is vacating (with no intent to return such as divorce, legal separation, etc...) the principal residence which will remain occupied by the existing co-borrower.

They expected me to cut them a check for their security deposit when I came to pick up keys, NO WAY, I kept it ALL, I even waited till the last day to send them their notice/statement regarding their outstanding balance for damages, lol!

Lots of moving parts in your prospective opportunity.Obviously, you'll need to know the numbers and determine whether pursuing an Ohio property from A-Town makes any practical sense.Here's the rough format I use: PETIOProperty - need to know after repaired value and rough costs to repairEquity - need to determine all outstanding mortgages and liens of recordTitle - research record owner(s)Interest(s) - need to research, identify and contact all persons who have beneficial interest in Decedent's estate as heirsOpportunities - Determine best way to acquire or profit from the situation.