The law firm handling tax foreclosures for the county put the tennis court lot up for auction.

They have no way to force removal, other than to pay off the loan on a home they no longer own. 

We are a multi-state management firm and work with out-of-state investors all the time.   

They were a law firm who hunts class action suits to go against companies. 

We are full-time investors ourselves (I'm Director of Acquisitions for a private equity firm); and our income comes from our investments.

Once your income is stabilized, you can do a refinance to remove your coborrower back off of the conventional loan. 

Unlike some buyers, I ALWAYS go look at the properties before the sale and discovered that the vacant lot had an active railroad track on it and therefore was unbuildable, and would remain unbuildable until the railroad removed their track. 

Not an expert here but my Brother is a heavy equipment operator in Northern CA and did a lot of the fire clean up when those fires happened and he mentioned contractor might need hazard waste removal license..

I would google commercial real state firms in the areas you are looking for. 

It is what is left after snow removal, cutting the grass, utilities, tenant issues, parking lot issues, property taxes, mortgage payment, etc. that make a difference.