I guess being long winded is that unless you live alone on a desert island, be observant of your surroundings and ask questions when you see things going on in front of you you don't understand.

I am curious if anyone in the area who flips homes would be able to tell me if installing rooftop solar using the PACE program is a good investment to overall value of the home? 

Welcome @JoshuaI suggest you give the local REIA another shot if you just went to one meeting.Your observation that no one is willing to share information unless they get something out of it is a little premature.

My agents were so stumped by my observations that it's been 2 days since I've heard from them.

Despite rumors to the contrary, probate is not automatically started upon the death of an individual.In my state (CA), county public administrators have the responsibility to probate the estates of deceased property owners if no one else has done so, however I have observed that they are too busy to look for new cases and only only take the ones where they see that their agencies will get paid.

Just my observations.  

The author is somehow justifying "Bandit Sign" observations to a collapsing real estate market, that's ******** no matter how twisted you crank the numbers.There are some items in his commentary that have some merit.

So, my first question on this site (I've been an observer for quite a while).  

I'm by no means an expert, but I'm also searching for deals in Houston and have a few observations.

You could find an experienced real estate investor in your area and talk your way into a maintenance/labour or assistants position with her/him and use the vantage point to observe and learn.