It may not be the case in your area but it seems to be a consensus on BP that there very little low hanging fruits on there.

It seems like there are a few key players with endless pockets out here, but they are only picking the low hanging fruit in my opinion. 

In a nut shell and with out getting too complicated there are two main differences between the two.1.

I've been listening to Brandon and Josh at 1.5-2x speed commuting 4-5 hours a week (lol, it's true, people think I'm nuts when they hear me) and tackling a little bit of reading (as much as I can with a 20 month old and a 2 week old at home.)  

The market being so active right now is not helping and I feel that we are seeing appraisers taking the low hanging fruit first.I currently have a few loans that I am working on that are going to take 30 days for the appraisal.  

repairs, tenant, nut, hassle involved with first 2. where/what to buy?

It's low-hanging fruit that everyone already has done and multiple people mail to those lists.

However as I have been researching the nuts and bolts of this type of deal, I am beginning to come across different sources that say this can be extremely risky and even illegal.

The tax lien was recently sold on a 50 acre farm with several thousand mature fruit trees plus greenhouses, open fields and water rights.

Welcome, @Sakshi SharmaSoCal can be a tough nut to crack for newbies.A couple years ago I mailed out lots of letters to homeowners in LA County with no luck.Then I tried rural Kern County and got a deal from a distressed homeowner in California City.The margins were not as large as they would've been in LA or OC, but I was able to rent it out for 2 years before fixing it up and selling it for a decent gain.Have you considered an owner-occupied small multifamily for your first deal?