There's loan programs that exist that provide the rehab capital needed to fix up the house but access to those funds are at an "after the fact" discretion. 

If the rental market is not favorable, you’ll likely see less investor activity and therefore less potential buyersAvailability of Data and ResourcesAccess to market data and networking resources can be a huge benefitConsider things like; access to county/court data, is it a non disclosure state, etcCommunity and Economic Trends Understanding local trends/issues can provide crucial insight into your target marketYou can operate virtually, but it’s still important to develop expertise in your target market*** Good market selection is not a guarantee of success.

A low-cost way to do it would be to paint the walls, the garage door, and close off any access to utilities.

How big is the land, cost to rebuild, insurance issues, economy in the city, accessibility, population.

Describe the properties, size units, access, etc and location better.

Another circumstance is that they may realize they have ownership, but for some reason or another they don't believe they can sell it, which with rare exceptions generally isn't the case......they can almost always sell.These are absolutely great leads for newer investors because you don't have to have a huge marketing budget to pursue them, they are much easier to negotiate and contract, and much easier to access and show to investors because generally the heirs to the property will tell you to help yourself to viewing the property and inspecting whenever you want without them being present.  

At that time, RCA’s general contractor was given access to examine the units to pre-order all the materials needed for the 4 apartment renovations.

Of course you don’t get payment until the application and process is complete and approved by the committee then you allow them access and that’s after they paid the SD.

Besides additional training, you also usually get access to a network of like-minded investors who you could potentially partner with.

I have no access to the surplus in any way.