Keeping a business journal comes in handy when trying to remember previous transactions when undergoing an audit or filing taxes at the end of the year.

Totally wrong: it's not more expensive than to operate as a person vs LLC, for tax purposes it's a disregarded entity if you're 100% owner, loans more expensive because it's commercial loans not because you're in form of LLC, no annual fees at all.Pros: your name is not searchable on auditor site, it's give your assets protection if you're not co-mingling money, you can build separate credit history for your LLC (for example, I have 2 credit cards for my businesses and they are not on my personal credit report - just on EIN).Depending on how you structure your businesses, you might decrease taxes - rental business is on sch.E while main business on sch.C and you can manage cash flow between them).Besides, it gives your money protection from claims on your personal liabilities (unless you QCD your properties back and forth to get a loan). 

The warranty deed must then be first be registered with the auditor for a fee and then be registered with the recorder for another fee. 

I found the owner of the neglected property on the auditors site and called him, seems he is interested in selling the property.

Next, I looked up the address on the county auditor's website to figure out who the owner was.

In my area, the auditor will reassess upon sale to sale price.  

The county auditor may be able to help as well.

As far as going about correcting it - Give the county where the property is located a call and ask how to go about that, often times it will be the Auditor/Treasurer or similar departments that will be responsible for this and they are most of the times very helpful (after all the county is loosing out on taxes by having two homestead exemptions).

@Zoltan KaluWhat do you guys use for skip tracing - Just pull lists from the county auditors' website of where you live or where you intend to call. 

If anything, I would HOPE if some IRS auditor saw your file, they would realize its nothing worth going after.