I've been looking into tax deed investing in California and am trying to figure out if land is easier to flip than property or if they both have the same issues with the title needing litigation or special services to sell for retail on the market.  

The property is worth 270k + and 3 bathrooms are in the process of being remodeled(the owner may only finish one).Subject To is a more sophisticated transaction and needs special paperwork and planning to keep you out of trouble.

Consult a lawyer who specializes in taking unpaid tax liens and turning them into deeds - meaning ownership for you.

In preparation for this move we have taken a financial audit of our circumstances and see that our 401k (I have the only account now, just shy of $100k @ 40 and my wife has just begun to contribute to her own this year at 33) will not get us where we want to be in 25-30 years.

So long as you are prepared to put up the majority of the capital you shouldn't have a problem finding people who want to partner with you.

Be prepared.

They would most likely already have contracts prepared for the situation

You will need to be prepared to pay what the market demands and potentially lose out on a lot of multiple offers before having one accepted. 

I am preparing to submit my first NC PACES Act (Crowdfunding) offering and am curious if anyone has used this method for raising money.

There is nothing special about real estate investing.