The total time to open the letter, auto fill, print, sign, place in a pre-addressed envelope, and stamp is less then 3 mins.

Can anyone just boil down the bare minimum I need to know/do to buy a multi-family unit in Philly without flying blind and losing my shirt? 

I apologize if this topic seems impolitic, but REI is one of those areas where people were heavily sold on the idea becoming very wealthy back in the 90s and early 00s, and a lot of folks lost their shirts over it.

I will not support one over the others here, but am willing to give out that information which I have learned to everyone here.There are serious questions about the OTC certificates sold between investors as you (over the internet) can not really get a since of what certificate is in 1st position, or 2nd position, or even 5th position and a lot of investors have lost their shirts by buying worthless certificates.

If you take the word of the seller or the county tax rolls to establish its value, you could lose your shirt, especially in a real estate market that has seen values drop by tens of thousands of dollars within a matter of months.Depending upon the kind of investor you are you'll utilize one of the three methods of establishing the value of a property.

A stamp and an envelope. 

(Lessee... 100,000 owners x .50 for stamp and postage on a website making zero...

Are they hand addressed, first class stamp, etc?

Time stamped paperwork by county  meanS everything.

Not visiting a property is one of the easiest if not the easiest way to lose your shirt in real estate.