At this stage we are educating ourselves for our next step.

Interested in getting a variety of responses as I am a newbie and getting educated as much as possible.

Here is a list of great reads that will definitely aid in your education: The Best Real Estate Books Ever Time to be a sponge to information, then eventually you'll have Bigger Pockets :)

Definitely, look into Real estate sales training as it will also provide you with an excellent education on how to find and utilize OPM (other people's money).

Its something I never thought I could do myself, especially in this area, but with life and work pretty stable it's something that looks like it can be more of a reality as a part-time business, so I'm trying to get educated.

You've definitely come to the right place for an education.

Then search the public records for their name, and you can see copies of their mortgages/deeds of trust, whatever you use there.

See Brandon's http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/01/25/how-to-start-wholesaling-getting-past-the-education-and-into-the-field/Great Marketing Forum, no UNBELIEVABLE marketing forum http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/87-real-estate-investor-marketingMaster Lease Options, well you could Sandwich lease option a SFR, stay in the middle, or Master Lease Option a Multi Family and guarantee the low NOI of a poorly managed multi family -small apartment building.

However, posting on a public forum kind of takes away from what you INTENDED to do.

These are "life events".You discover people going through these life events by interacting with people or researching public records.