Too much risk.I like the idea of doing a land contract instead of a traditional sale but have never done one.What benefits would the land contract give us over just doing a regular sale?

Hi, Jacob - to create a lease I recommend you use an online service like Avail.co or Rocket Lawyer to draft a state-specific lease.

We work with investors on buy/sell, buy/hold, and new builds. end to end investor service: identification, acquisition, financing, renovation, management, disposition and more...I like what was written by @Donato Callahan ...

After zoom then what? 

In addition, depending on the sales contract they may be prorating the rent paid already paid for this month.

Under California foreclosure law, can a vendor place a mechanics lien on a home for work performed for the prior owner after the foreclosure sale and the recording (perfecting) of the deed?

One way is to get a Hard Money loan, after you get two or three properties you can then bundle them together to get blanket loan.As already said low amount loans are hard to get and often take getting creative. 

I only knew after current owner already bought it from them. 

Most investor loans will require a minimum down payment of 15-20% of the sales price with having healthy credit and a few months of reserves. 

Services like these take advantage of people that are not knowledgeable on lead gen.