Welcome @JoshuaI suggest you give the local REIA another shot if you just went to one meeting.Your observation that no one is willing to share information unless they get something out of it is a little premature.

I guess being long winded is that unless you live alone on a desert island, be observant of your surroundings and ask questions when you see things going on in front of you you don't understand.

Despite rumors to the contrary, probate is not automatically started upon the death of an individual.In my state (CA), county public administrators have the responsibility to probate the estates of deceased property owners if no one else has done so, however I have observed that they are too busy to look for new cases and only only take the ones where they see that their agencies will get paid.

We're still learning here, but that's just what we've observed so far. 

There isn't a big "You're my competition so I'm going to try to steer you wrong" attitude.Action is better than observation....

@Ida Saidkariev @Hal Thompson  Very insightful observations and perspective!

A couple of observations:- What is in the Permits & Plans number?  

I have a small solution for the 2nd question which is right after I bought the property (and I left this detail out), I signed up for a NextDoor subscription to observe to see if the neighborhood is deteriorating.

I think I need to observe first what's going to happen and need to do more studies.

Be sure to use the forums to post questions or curious observations concerning the market you are in or would like to participate more in.