There is not alot of primary to tertiary literature on this subject matter.Its a long discussion & not very much literature (primary to tertiary info) for the general public.

If someone asks about schools, for example, I direct them to the Durham Public Schools website.

you can get this from the public records department, Realquest.com or listsource.com

It seems like WPA-type projects would be a great idea to improve our country with some useful public projects and get people to work instead of just increasing credit card limits.

Other houses for even less, are in areas without jobs, schools, public transportation, , shopping, etc.

These are PUBLIC RECORDS from the State of Florida.

Lets assume all this is true and you have a friend who works at a company with a secret connection to HUD that is not publicly listed even though government contractors are listed publicly.  

MARKET yourself, put ads out on Craigslist, banner signs, business cards, drive for dollars (knock on doors), write letters to vacant property owners, and visit your county public records.  

In the past we have advertised with magazine publications such as Realty411 and Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine. 

@Jay MottIn terms of most deals - high equity absentee due to the volume and scalability for this type of list.In terms of highest response/conversion rates - pre-foreclosures but that's with a huge tip that I'm not posting publicly here because I've seen a lot of people F* this up and give bad advice on BP about this - feeding trolls and silly chaos ensues.