But the title and escrow companies  Fidelity Fatco WFG etc.. have their own title plants that mirror county records and as stated are off shore ( Philippines) so title reports can be done in a day or two at the most.. prior to recording they will do a date down at the county to make sure nothing has popped up..

When someone else searches it pops up. 

They were popping up everywhere for a while.  

Pop.

My clients are big fans of fix and flips (also fix and STR's, which are popping off in the Poconos right now).In looking to dive into your first project I'd say the best questions to ask yourself are:1.

When it pops up, I make my offer.I already have my RE Agent in that market looking for me based on my buying criteria, so they are my eyes, which is shy I don't need to see the property until after an accepted offer...and that's just to verify that the property meets my criteria. 

They work well for mom and pop sellers that are free of a mortgage and are looking to retire on the cash flow. 

And I look at his operation and the quality of staff and such quite a difference than what I see when I am back in the mid west meeting the smaller mom pop shops. 

Bob is right that you can get better cash flow on the east side, but I still see deals pop up over there from time to time and I don't see any rapid depreciation in those neighborhoods coming any time soon and I think if your strategy is to buy and hold in nicer areas with less risk, it's a very good area to target.

A Walgreens with 25 yrs of lease left and 5x5yr extensions will be "safer" than a stand-alone mom and pop restaurant with a 5 yr lease and no experience in the restaurant business.