Be patient & save up enough money to bid at the auction, after all, it is a money game.The only people that lost money on anything are the ones that are not prepared what is ahead of them.

Before I go ahead and buy a cheap, ghetto house with the goal of renting it out, is there anything I should be aware of?

If you can find a way to stand out from the crowd and show a true benefit of working with you versus your competition, you'll be ahead of the game!

If your goal is to get into to rehab, then you should go ahead and buy a rehab property.

I can't remember what it is called, but I went with the slightly more expensive web hosting option with GoDaddy and they actually manage the updates on my Wordpress site (you know, the technical kind that just get pushed through automatically by the sites) so I don't have to be a Geek and know it all.  

Their only wrongdoing is that they pushed your file to the back of the queue since you had time on your escrow, that could have been used to track this down weeks ago.

It's a great way to build relationships and get ahead in this business.  

hi deurward. thats a tricky issue there. the kids of the brother would actually be the owners now because of inheritance rights. that is, if the mother actually deeded the house over to the son before she died. if she did so, then of course his heirs would have legal right to the house. case closed. however, if the son did not have a will at the time of his death, then the house and his assets would have to go thru probate as he has more than one heir. if i were the sister, especially after 5 years, i would push for the probate. its gonna cost her, but she has a good case simply because the kids have made no effort to aqquire the house house themselves and made no effort to pay the taxes or upkeep on the place. hence, they have proven to have no intrest. i would push the issue in court and see who stands up to claim their inheritance. if any of those kids stands up and says " its mine", then at least she can hit them with a bill for the taxes she has paid and any upkeep. 

It doesn't turn out well for those who are getting pushed into it for some reason, whether it be for a family member or for one's own financial conundrum. 

Just do not give up and always push forward to meet your goals.