(One caveat, if you did not have the move in checklist, making it harder to document condition, and they are disputing it or did not do it, then it may be just part of landlord tuition payments... a lesson learned.)....A related note, with first property, give the tenants a clear "wear and tear" versus damage/broken  sheet with the move in or transition paperwork.

@Devon Garbus why do 5 sets of paperwork while you can do one?

hi jake. first, if the taxes are being paid and no one is living in the house, it is probably under foreclosure by a bank. the assessor or county clerk should be able to tell you who is sending in the checks on the taxes. second, look up the name of the owners again. check the historical obituaries. they may have died which means their heirs own the house now. they may be paying the taxes. next, go visit the local county clerks office and look up all the mortgage records on the house. if it is bank owned, they have to file paperwork stating their lien on the place. this will list the bank. if they sold their lien to another bank, if the second bank places a lien on it, there is going to be paperwork showing that too. if they are in any state of foreclosure, then they have to  file paperwork on that too, which will be in the records at the county clerks office too. this will list the bank that has the foreclosure going. that is who you will want to call. trust me, i have done this several time. let me know what you find and let me know if you run into any more blocks

@Bryan Hancock @Rigoberto PeraZa What should the legal fees cost for the sec paperwork for the sub one million Cali exemptions?

Anyway, he's sending me his loan paperwork showing how much he has due and left to pay off.  

However, people say you don't need any money to start, but i find this crazy... like surely you would need money to pay for closing costs, holding costs, and what do you even do if the end buyer drops out of the deal.....basically i'm really stuck with the paperwork and money situation and obviously the FEAR of getting involved as i have no back up money ....Could somebody please explain in great detail each step and every aspect i could face when attempting this endeavor? 

Neither of those suggestions is a bad suggestion regardless of area of town.If your property was newly renovated and the items placed were new, then you should call the police and file a report since whomever you bought from should have paperwork and serial numbers.  

We have met with the lender and are working to finish paper work to get pre-approved.  

you can't do much about it at all. unless you hire a person that would tape the behavior and call the cops, or something like that.i have purchased several after their redemption period expired (6 months). also, lost several as well since the paperwork took longer than 6 months.

He even said some parts were vague, I think purposely done by the PM.For the 2nd tenant, if they have not finalized the paper work yet, can you get another PM to manage that side of the property?