I guess that I'm really nervous about getting started, not knowing what I'm doing, afraid of screwing something up and losing money that I can't afford to lose.  

I do believe in this area to stay good forever if the politicians screw it up.  

NEVER close without one and title insurance (if that is how your state laws work). 4, Have your "wholesaler" provide a written inspection from a licensed company as well as an appraisal or CMA if they are making representations of value.There was a thread yesterday from a buyer stating they got screwed BAD on a deal for thousands of dollars.

IF you sign a contract and pay earnest money and cant pay for it, you'll be screwed that earnest (usually)

ERGO you are in foreclosure in the first place.GFC meltdown saw values drop 20 to over 60% in certain markets  .. your 70% LTV loan was underwater right out of the gate.So to answer your questions.In General... you have a foreclsoureyour value is 10% less than it was when you made the loan.. reason flipper butchered the job ... and again depending on state it could take 1 to 3 years to actually foreclose and of course your not getting any payments.. so your interest is wiped out. your cost of doing the foreclosure again state specific.. and I have never met a defaulted borrower that paid the property tax's  ( and again state specific how bad this will be).. you have selling costs usually 8% and you normally have to spend money getting the home marketable I have never met a defaulted borrower who left a home in perfect shape.So you add 10% market devaluation  8% for sales costs.. 3% for foreclosure costs.. 2% for back taxforce placed insurance and utls.. and depending on the condition of the home 5 to 10% for rehab .. you can see how this eats into your 30%  .. then take states Like were i live and properly filed mechanics liens are super liens they jump ahead of your mortgage.. this can be thousands up to 100 thousands if your flipper totally screwed the subs. 

Up till that point every single tenant I deal with is lying to me.It sucks it has to be that way, but people always feel the landlord is the easiest and best person to screw over and they honestly think the world is theirs.

Things like screws, adhesives, hardware...

We had the utility between tenants and it was a bad deal for us as we had several tenants fall behind on there bills and utility company transferred into our name auto even while they tenant was living there and fell behind on there rent then they continued to stay through eviction running bills up and we was not able to shut off as we was not a utility company and land lords are not allowed to take it away here in Ohio so we got screwed and still trying to chase them from job to job attaching wages its been years.

I would have purchased with a regular loan but I am currently under contract with another deal and don't want to screw up the current deal that I have that is being financed with an FHA 203k Loan. 

Many homes still use oil, am I reading that down the road if I sue or take the tank out of the basement I'm screwed?