To fix and flip, you will need to raise capital (hard money lenders, private money lenders, seller financing).

I am working with a lender that is a small, private funder of residential mortgages, both owner occupied and rentals to see if some of their investors might be interested in doing these.

This insures that they will close and if they don't you can hopefully get an extention.I personally wholesale and cherry pick the best deals to fix and flip using funding from private lenders.

They are willing to give you some advice.To ask someone "Hey who are your private lenders you use where you invest at because I want to do the same".

Alternatively you could write private notes for rehabbers, or buy and hold investors to use these funds for greater returns than you could get in the market.

Buy it for less than the contract which is much like buying a mortgage at a discount.You'll need cash, depending on the underlying contract you might be able to finance it with private funds, most lenders won't touch it.Need to see what kind of contracts were done, the seller may be interested.

If you want to get into the hotel business you need to immerse yourself in it and network within the small community.Most if not all hotel deals in the US (especially CA) over 10MM are sold privately within the network of seasoned deal makers.

I can't imagine that the city could give you permission to go onto private property, whether or not it had been condemned.Any luck checking probate records for the deceased son?

I make one call, walk through the house for five minutes marking things to stay, and then leave to try and find my next deal/private funder.

Your profession can be a source of private money through self directed IRA's.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthereCheck out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.