Immediately cut off all communication with the tenant and hire an attorney that specializes in evictions.You'll hate me for the first recommendation and thank me for the second.

It effectively turns thinkers into doers. 

 You need to:  A) Know thyself  B) Develop an understanding of what REIT's are and factors that effect their pricing  C) Develop an understanding of where you're going to invest if you buy physical propertyFor this comment Ill be talking about publicly traded REIT's as they're available to everyone through a brokerage account.

The kitchens all need help as well, the landlord has quite literally done nothing to renovate or remodel the property even with tenant requests as mentioned above -- effectively a slumlord.

IMO the chance 2008 happens again soon is low and even if it does it doesn't effect you unless you have to sell. 

Otherwise, it will indicate an income limit which you cannot exceed in order to qualify. https://sf.freddiemac.com/working-with-us/affordable-lending/home-possible-eligibility-mapdisclaimer - fannie mae has a program very similar, which they are making changes to effective July.

  : ) I think it really depends on what you are trying to communicate with them and the urgency. 

You can find properties by driving for dollars, mailing owners, getting lists of code violation, evictions, property management companies, networking, etc but the most effective method is cold calling the owners directly.

The biggest flaw is there is a steep learning curve and a lot of the functionality is built for communicating with clients (homeowners), which isn't really applicable for flipping houses.FlipperForce/RealeFlow/FreedomSoft/Fixters - These are real estate specific softwares with varying levels of project management features & functionalityMicrosoft Office / G-Suite

It's an alternative but VERY effective form of house hacking.