As a side note, I do not plan on becoming a hard money lender, but will selectively do up to four per year with this partner so I stay under the limit for my state of needing to be licensed as a lender.

Looking to hearing from you and setting up some meetings for the next couple of weeks.Jimmy Shatara

The foreclosure process is complex and full of pitfalls, I would strongly suggest consulting with a Real Estate Attorney in your locality; depending on how your set up, you may be able to write off the expenses incurred in obtaing the legal advice. 

Different sets of repairs require different types of labor, but for the most part you’re going to want licensed contractors of some variety.

back taxes are a great list but be prepared to act quickly on something as they are under the gun to sell or redeem before a set day. 

Choose the most reasonable estimate (notice I did not say the cheapest) Now, you can set up a maintenance budget within your savings.

Waterloo would work as long as we are are talking at least 2 sets. 

I just found that a ground rent owner is required to sell to a property owner and that the sale price is set by law. 

Do you have the skill set to flip?

Here are some good places to start: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet- find and connect with other BP members that are in your area.http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts - Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you.And, of course thehttp://www.biggerpockets.com/forums - ask any question about real estate!