At this point I just need the repairs done.Of course they can foreclosure without clearing the first mortgage because the auction will pay the mortgage and whatever is left is dead money as the lien is done with at that point even if the amount from the auction isn't enough to pay off the mortgage.

As both an investor and Florida Real Estate Broker, I have spent way too much time on this topic and have found it to be dead end. 

Lastly, I can give you a few questions that you can use when interviewing agents to flesh out who really knows what they're doing.

Long-term rentals are much more difficult today, but that doesn't mean they are dead.

Accumulation of weeds, vegetation, junk, dead organic matter,debris, garbage, offal, rat harborages, stagnant water, combustible, materials, and similar materials or conditions on a premises constitutes fire, health or safetyhazards.Violation 2: Enter/Occupy Posted STRUNarrative/ Ordinance Description: No person shall enter or occupy the residence due to fire damage and hazardous conditions.Violation 3: Heating facilitiesNarrative/ Ordinance Description: No heating due to no power PG&E pulled the power.

When problems arise (and they will) take your time to solve them.That's if you're dead set on starting right away.

Currently listed 2 houses 1.5m each and the market is dead.

(full disclosure-I knew the guy, or know him, he's not dead just gone from the auctions and haven't talked to him in a few years, but he was always nice to me and I don't have a clue as to the validity of the federal charges against him, but he always treated me decently and I've got nothing bad to say about him and I know other landlords who've been demonized and slurred as slumlords when I think they simply bit off more than they can chew, while other real slumlords seem to operate for years, as long as they don't get too big) He used to kind of dominate those auctions and maybe that was a good thing, as I'm sure there's a whole cast of characters who've filed that void.Thing is, ANY property under $100k, maybe even under $150k or $200k will certainly have multiple bidders, there are a LOT of people like me when I'm looking, who have the subscription to the sheriff's sales info reports from the Daily Reporter ($600/year and you get the results emailed to you in an Excel spreadsheet on Tues, next weeks auctions emailed on Thurs) and another good indicator is I'm on an email list for one of the firms (actually out of Chicago) which handles a tiny, tiny fraction of the cases and I've looked at the "cc list" or whatever you'd call it if ALL the addresses that email is sent to and there are HUNDREDS of them on there and this is for I think Johnson Blumberg, who many weeks don't even have any cases in MKE or Waukesha Cty.

Actually, I think that now that Jimmy's dead, the Margaritaville line is going to be in for a serious decline in the coming years.

You may be dead in the water.