You can't throw it in dumpster unfortunately.You can bag it up to make it easier to carry outside.The constable has to stay there until house is emtied out so you need to have a crew their to carry out the stuff.Then everyone will come pick through it and make a mess.Then you have to haul off the junk and clean up all the debris.

Now when you are ready to pick something up in the Myrtle Beach area, let me know, I’m sure I can send some numbers your way. 

Do you have any tips for determining whether or not an agent is competent?

I am not saying you wont find a gem, but you can be sure much has been picked through already (unless they sell them auction-style), which leaves the properties that are less desirable, and plenty of these aren't worth getting for free!!!

The new ~660 acres of land picked up by 4-5 big developers in Super North Vegas is like a good HOUR from civilization (aka strip / airport / DTS / any respectable casino...)I just can't imagine the current condos and townhomes out here someday being worth $400k/$600k+ like the major cities out there.

Most importantly (i think), I'm trying to determine if my holding period would begin with the purchase of the $58k home we bought last year, or if it would change to the home we bought last month.

@Andrew Fredrickson Thank you for the suggestion I will be picking those up soon!

To determine whether an investment is worthwhile, one might consider the opportunity cost of putting money into a real estate investment instead throwing that money into the stock market for the same period of time that you’d be invested in the real-estate project.

Asset protection is key concept that I picked up from Rich Dad Poor Dad book "Unfair Advantage" by Rober Kiyosaki, and my limited understanding tells me that I should have an LLC to protect my personal assets from the property, that is a cool $800/ year here in California.

To me what determines a good investment is how that investment performs relative to other investment options.