To learn more about the space and discover the opportunities, difficulties, ups and downs of being a host as well as funding my STR in the future, I have been organizing and building a co-hosting company with hopes of helping hosts relieve stress while at the same time discovering what it means to own an STR and what it takes to have happy guests.

On-site evaluations allow you to examine the property's condition, identify potential difficulties, and precisely estimate renovation costs.

Tax sales are a balancing act among (1) the need of government to collect property taxes and, if owners will not pay then, then to provide incentives for investors to purchase the tax rights and (2) investors, who need an attractive return for the risk they are taking, and (3) citizen taxpayers, who should not lose their property and all equity because of small debts and perhaps temporary or at least relatively short term financial difficulties.

We're trying to raise a portion of the funds for a small resort (6 cabins) from private individuals and I'm running into some difficulties: The whole real estate syndication accredited vs/non-accredited investor thing (if I'm understanding it correctly) seems to be a huge hindrance to actually raising money from average (non-wealthy) people that would normally be the kinds of people I'd come into contact with.

Chaos and difficulties can sometimes lead to special chances to earn big prizes.

I live in the Seattle area so investing locally is difficult; I chose Cincinnati because my wife is from there and my in-laws still live there. 

Now I have tenants that respect their neighbors,  so no smoking of whatever can be inhaled. 

What I'm saying is you might be over estimating the time and difficulty of getting the project completed with permits.

How expensive/difficult is the foreclosure process in a case like this?

This question came up in discussion between an investor and a property manager in which the investor was complaining about the difficulty of running out of funds and finding it difficult to get a line of equity against investment rental homes.