If they are regular tenants or not (section 8) etc. they might can stay longer and more red tape than a regular tenant.A property in a bad area of New York it is basically a vacant property because you will be evicting almost all of those tenants.

Then you have the ones that charge an arm and a leg to join as well as bombard you with books, tapes, and seminars to attend for additional costs!

Ok, I can reply on this thread, but not this one:http://www.biggerpockets.com/topics/53281-tapes

Yes, that is real duct tape.

I thought about handwriting a letter and taping it to the front door explaining that I'm a real estate investor and I'm interested in purchasing their property, I'm just not sure if that's completely legal.

Where a promise was made to cut the red tape and take immediate action, certainly directs FEMA not to act as they have, but when it comes to federal funds and claims made, I can understand that a process is necessary to prevent fraud.

I bought many of the books and tapes and even joined a multi level marketing business called Nouveau Riche.

It is possible in most European countries the only problem is the RED tape here it is a killer and if anything happens were the renter is concerned it can take up to five years to get them out.

Suppose I had $2M cash available to buy a bulk REO tape back in 2008, 1.  

While it was clear with every turn in this 3500 square foot house, the grandeur and what a special place it once was, it was also obvious that it was not being well cared for (it was a pig sty with dirty dishes, clothes, beer cans everywhere) plus there were so many places with wood rot, shoddy work done, codes violations galore, asbestos tape around the pipes, gaping holes in the sofits etc. etc. etc.