You may lose your earnest money but you will not be forced to purchase the property.  

If you sell to an investor, they're also looking for a good deal and tax into consideration RE commissions and you might end up losing money on the deal.

They didn't have the funds to catch up the property so I added value to them by solving their problem of losing the home to tax sale and allowing them to stay put without forcing them to leave.

In my market, having a trendier floor equates to getting a lot more rent so I am not marrying myself to a floor for 20-30 years just to lose potential rent over time.

Since, I am a newbie, I do not feel comfortable enough to make offers sight unseen.Should I look at less competitive markets to get my feet wet or is there something I am missing here strategy wise.Is there a better way to go about doing this..Thanks

It steadily loses value until it is worthless.

The only way I would buy completely sight unseen anymore is if it absolutely ROCK BOTTOM pricing.

It’s a matter of time is why I’m asking I don’t want to lose out on the house because I can’t show rental income yet for the first house.

JD Martin - agreed, you'd have to for any post-rental repairs.And yes, I can see how that would be a really great strategy if you were marketing to investors especially.Do you see any potential tax pitfalls where the IRS could still find you doing business as a ‘dealer’ versus ‘investor’ and you lose the tax preferential status?

So, if you are going to invest there, I think it best to NOT assume it will continue to boom as it has over the short term, make sure the deal makes sense today, and has some extra "insulation" to cushion you in case it goes bust so that you are not forced to sell or lose the property then.