We pick up non-skilled labor for demo.

If she is an older grandmother type, there are other issues to consider about her estate regardless of it being tiny or very large, what is her health like, will she need medical assistance in the near future (3 to 7 years) where is she moving to, must she have a lump some or can she use a small income from the property, will her selling effect any benefit program she may be qualified for????

Perhaps they defaulted on some low-balance medical accounts (I wouldn't give that a second thought) and they have no other accounts.  

The guys that had experience with this skill set clearly made money.

Effective, sustainable, profitable, and delivers the optimal return on your time, skill, and money.One of my favorite Warren Buffett quotes, "Price is what you pay, value is what you receive".The investors I know that are most successful and who I most want to emulate, challenge me to focus on asking more powerful questions that will likely lead to more powerful answers.Here are some resources and areas of study that I have found to be extremely valuable.1) Public libraries & especially law libraries (nudge nudge wink wink) contract law, real estate cases and guide books that are state specific.2) Understanding title 3) Public record searching4) Studying marketing and human behavior: What influences people to say yes or no?

welcome to BP @Ronald Kile no you do not need a license to buy apartments you just need the knowledge and skill to do so to make a profit meet as many investors in your area to get help and go to the local reia groups good luck

While it keeps blatant advertising out of the forums, there are a few skill promoters that still squeeze into the forums by skillfully posting a project or system as an informational post with a question thrown in.

I am currently working as a mechanical engineer in the area and my fiancee is working at a medical office.

A few of my friends that invest in real estate have told me that flipping is the best way to go, but buy and hold just seems to make more sense to me (and line up with our skill sets..).If anyone has a good investor-friendly real estate agent that is familiar with North Chicago and the Northern suburbs, I would really appreciate a referral.  

Skill saw, sledgehammer, hammer, and gloves = done son!!!