In fact, some of them have been in the news lately and popped up on the foreclosure list as they are in trouble financially as well. 

Here are all my notes on investing in properties out-of-state, which is also the same as international to the United States.My notes are from David Greene's book, Long-Distance Real Estate Investing: How to Buy, Rehab, and Manage Out-of-State Rentals. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1blQFIKSls6JDHdl7srVMhXd8...For personal experience on flipping remotely, I wouldn't be the best person to speak on this.

What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.?

The good news?

For newer developers, credibility often hinges on clear and compelling financial documentation.

If you do not want your name to show up anywhere on the closing documents, you would need to get a power of attorney to allow someone else to sign on your behalf. 

The good news is sometimes you don’t need to pay the thousands in attorney fees.

This was probably a year ago, but Before going onto their website I even called and spoke to a worker at that office who directed me to the category where I would find them… the category was filled of all kinds of irrelevant documents, thousands of them.

Can I just fill out a grant deed myself and create a loan document and have them both recorded together?

If it's not a gift, more documentation and explanation will be needed (are they also owners, is there a loan, etc).