The market have been exhausted, the auction didn't produce results and now the bank is with the back to the wall trying to get rid of the property.

What a tough question - make certain you get views from factories that service your area and be certain to differentiate between different factories with the same brand name.For example, Champion has plants that feed Southern California based in Lindsey CA and Chandler AZ and the product they produce is quite different.

He is right in that you need to be careful who you trust, however, countless times I have formed great relationships with top REO brokers (which is a necessity in the REO biz) and although they represent the banks as the sellers, there is somehwat of a non-personal attachment as banks are just big corporate entities and I am a real person in their office whom they like, whom they drink beers with, whom they joke and laugh with on occasion.These relationships produce great deals.

Another concern I would have is... can you own an income producing property as a non-naitve.I would check out how many other non-naitves are doing this and what kind of issues they are experiencing.Also, how long to you intend to live in Thailand?

Aaron, Comp reports (CMA's) are fairly simple to produce for a realtor, they plug in a few numbers, bedroooms bath sqft address and generally select how far they want to search from that address (1 square mile or such) and the MLS produces the report.

For instance... if you want to start a retirement plan by purchasing income producing properties then to support that goal you would focus on income producing properties.If however, you are looking for more immediate cash in bigger chunks the wholesaling or rehabbing would be the way to go.Also, once you decide on a strategy... stick with it until you become an expert.

The Recorder of Deeds (some call it Register of Deeds) should have a way to search for "sheriff's deeds" (since AZ is trustee state, they may call the deeds that are produced from foreclosure something else); rehabbers will be among those buyers.The MLS has a way to search for "settled" transactions; find settled transactions that were CASH, not financed - many of these will be rehabbers.Get friendly with the local REO brokers, since you will be offering a product/service that will benefit them in moving their inventory.

The fact you can get away without trashing your credit or ending up with big money judgments leaves you far ahead of many people.If you goal is to acquire a rental portfolio (which won't produce a ton of income unless you have dozens) and live simply, I'd work toward being rid of those expensive houses

I was an assistant in NY for a PBS producer and indy film exec producer.

1) Spend less time on the computer.2) Have less business3) Not tried a few "new" ways for real estate investing4) Never started a Blog5) Never learned about marketing my company through the internet (okay this might of happened, but not produced these results)I might be able to go on and on, but you all get the jest!