So I found this empty lot and looked it up on the county website and saw that they owed over $30,000 in taxes.

There are a number of rent collection websites that make the process super easy. 

If you are truly concerned about the legitimacy of this "bank" you could look them up see the size of there portfolio on the fdic website. 

@Kris JohnsonBP decided to delete the links to my blog (on my website).You can find my BP-approved blogs below.

Tim Ivory in my experience the values listed on a tax accessor website are less than what it’d be worth to sell.

Then. my county has a website that has the deed and contact information for the owner of the property.

I would go on my county’s tax assessors website to get an idea.

(I'm in the bay area and all I have as of now is a website and social media.)

I'm considering Riverside for the following reasons:I've read from different websites that job growth in the area is expected to outpace Silicon Valley It is close to where I live (I live in OC)I have heard from a few people I know that there are people moving there due to the high cost of living in OC and LA However, I'm a little unsure if investing there would be the right choice because I do not know how likely it would be getting a good tenant fast and I have also read that evictions can be a giant headache in CA. 

 I'm working on my site & I would like to see other operators rental websites.