Case law in CA and additional federal legislation has gone on to define "notice of foreclosure" as the date of trustee's sale.  

First you should define your goal.1. 

Thought this Zillow article was contrarian and interesting: Defining the Riskiest Markets for Home Purchases.

In my model I have two main spreadsheets: (1) cash flows so that I can calculate returns, plan for the future, etc. and (2) income and expenses as defined by the IRS in order to calculate taxes, which will then flow to the cash flow sheet.

I definitely plan to do my due diligence, and you're right, I should probably better define my goals.  

My goals aren't defined as far as numbers go because that isn't my highest objective. 

Stage 1 is clearly defined: buy 10 homes for rentals. 

I wanted to define it in dollars, instead of just saying what I want my life to look like.

At least in my current business, our mission statement (or maybe that's not even the right term) helps define our purpose and sets a clear path to the result.

But if you can be specific and define your goals people can definitely help provide feedback