That means you trade an investment property for another investment property.

In reality, most things on the MLS come in close to retail - even in a trashed state - because, well, people are buying them.Your best course of action in many areas now is private marketing where you can maybe catch someone at the front end of a distressed situation that wants to get out NOW, and you can likely negotiate closer to 56-70% of After-Repair-Value (ARV).

Keep learning and taking action.

As far as our backgrounds, I was a handyman/landscaper before the military, and my wife was a rental manager (I got most of my trade through her). 

No matter when you decide to take action you are still going to make a few mistakes no matter what's.  

I'm excited to be here and ready to start learning and taking action.  

If some experienced tax defaulted property investor would consider providing me some of their tricks of the trade, I would like some help knowing how best to sort and filter the tax defaulted properties from county tax agencies.

I'm also unsure if I should use a 203k loan to finance the rehab, I'd prefer to do the bulk of the work myself and bringing in trades when needed and then refinance to get cash out when we're ready to purchase the next MFH, so I could see there being more savings if I self finance the renos through one of my 0% apr credit cards or just pay cash. 

What I'd consider doing is selling your current house and buying however many properties you can buy with the proceeds of the sale in a market where the R/V ratios are higher and is more linear in it's historic price action.  

I know each state is different, but definitely check with the board or regulatory agency that oversees contractors in your state to see if the contractor you're considering has any complaints or pending action against them.