If prices really had continued to rise, they would have been screaming bloody murder about paying taxes on their gains.

I would define a war zone as an area where people are frequently murdered and bullets fly with some regularity.

The neighborhood is not the greatest (but we don't have murders, killings, etc...) it's just a little lower end.

I have also owned many businesses:johnmichael: Laundry Mats, Retail Stores, Flea Markets, Convince Stores, Arcades, Rack Merchandising, Mystery ,Mystery shopping Company, Auction Centers, Answering Services, Vending, And the list goes on.johnmichael: Now enough pumping sunshine up my own skirt LOLjohnmichael: Do understand we will be going over the basics and then step by step jump into the more advanced and creative strategies of locating Real Estatejohnmichael: I do want to cover basic investing strategy for new investors; johnmichael: STEP 1 - Buy a piece of real estate under the most favorable terms and conditions possible with as much leverage (OPM--other people's money) as you can.johnmichael: The art of this game is finding moneyjohnmichael: Money is everywhere folksjohnmichael: How many Dr's in your townsDan_Auito: We are gaining strength in that dept as more and more lenders are finding our home herejohnmichael: The are of OPM is just asking for it!

Even though I can track down many owners of abandoned property, some are just mysterious, for eg, records will show that the owner still lives there etc.

If a home owner has equity, why wouldn't they just sell their house instead of going all the way through foreclosure?

I could be an axe murderer for all they know!

I've been researching and the deal looks good but I'm really weary about the murder capital and getting stuck in a potential war zone.

There were several murders in that complex in 2012, and that complex is considered to be a war zone.

BP even shut the bulk reo forum a long time ago because there was no legit discussion just people claiming access to mysterious bulk deals.