Areas with a healthy balance of supply and demand will have more motivated sellers and active buyers.Consider Price Points: Target markets where homes are priced in the sweet spot for investors, often between $100k and $300k.

At this point, is it worth it to get my insurance involved to help motivate the HOA to address the issue or will getting my insurance involved slow things down?

I know that the hctax website lets you look up a name or adress but won't let you browse the entire database.I am asking because I think it would be a good way to find motivated sellers I believe.

I recommend you talk to the seller, find out what his motivation is, and then see if you can negotiate something that fits his needs and yours. 

Sometimes, money can motivate people to actually clean up their properties.  

What kind of rewards have you found to be most motivating for your partners?

The worst ones usually don't have any clear cut guidelines (a lot of the underwriters will make up their own rules if they do not like the deal), Suck at communicating (will reply days later), Push aggressive terms to get deals in and then switch them, and Not really motivated to get things done (they will adverse a loan without any hesitation). 

I was going to avoid that because I am 42 with a wife and 2 elementary school kids, and although I have the motivation and free-spirit to do that, my wife is quite conservative and wants that nice dream house =) Which I definitely want to provide.

I know a few people who get calls off letters sure, but its still a vetting process to get to those most motivated. 

i want to hear about it all. investors only tell me about the good stuff, i would also like to hear the bad. i know how it goes, not everything is black & white. investors only talk to you when they have good news, brag, or they want something from you. i like to find others to talk to once a week at least. need the motivation/accountability. i like to talk about real estate because it’s interesting.