I've partnered with several contractors over the years (before I got my own license) and it is very normal for the contractor to be paid for materials and labor, even if they are doing the build "at cost"It's complicated and as other have stated, you've gotten yourself in too big of a mess to be sorted out by some people on an internet forum. 

Failing to plan, is planning to fail. 

At this point its extremely likely the individual will default and the foreclosure process will happen and it gives a person who can access the documents a heads up that this is coming putting you in front of the people in C above.Where do you get these documents from?

For most people a house hack is a great start. 

So I will be mainly focusing on South Florida where I have people, resources, and experience.

I saw one post where someone mentioned using AppFolio’s bulk upload with a custom spreadsheet, but I imagine there are a lot of different ways people do this.I feel like I might be overcomplicating things, so I’d love to hear how others handle it.

At the end of the day we can screen our tenants all we want, but cannot control what people do.  

I'm reaching deep into my psychic thoughts… I see it… A majority of people who respond to this post will be real estate brokers… I can see it!

I've seen a lot of people mentioning reading books and soaking up knowledge to start.

I am interested in meeting people from whom I can learn more about real estate investing.