A source for "explain it to me like I'm 8 years old" is John Mauldin's "Thoughts from the Frontline" where Mauldin is writing prolifically on this topic.

The challenge in a Coop is finding a TBer to pay your fee (most of the time the assignment fee is 3% of value, and many times the 3% has to be financed in a promissory note or borrowed from a family source or a finance company).RE: Notes, there are terrific sites about creating a note and selling the note at a discount to a note broker-note buyer.

Great source for info, Jeff.

One of the biggest takeaways was setting the RIGHT goals…not ones that will impress others.

Since I am looking at options in both local areas I am familiar with and out of state options, I am trying to find a single source that will give average rents and vacancy percentages for a specific area.

Don’t pay them until the job is done – One of the biggest perils you can face as a new real estate investor is that your contractor doesn’t cause dramatic delays by failing to show up for work when they say they will.

Right, the local REI club is a great source for meeting people.What type of leads do they bring you Paul?

A long time respected Southern California real estate market expert I saw talk a couple weeks ago said rents will drop, especially in apts and condos, as we're about to be flooded with the biggest supply of single family homes for rent over the next few years that we've ever seen.

The biggest concern the OP needs to address is exactly what they are addressing.

Hey Reverend Corey here seasoned Investor your new source to foreclosed properties, I am looking for more investment properties if its direct to the source.