I would say read some of the BP books as they cover pretty much all aspects of real estate investing.

Newer buyers the sellers like to know they have an experienced broker behind them that knows the process and can help guide them along the way.If you can say price range you are looking,state, STNL or MTNL, what loan to value, and what cap rate you are expecting then I can give you an idea if you are realistic or stop looking before you start. i review about a thousand of these a week for clients nationally so tend to know state by state what cap rates are at for what price range for NNN - STNL and MTNL.There are a few books out there on the subject.

I also want to really make sure to do everything by the books.

I also want to really make sure to do everything by the books.

That will generally dictate area, property size, tenant quality type (national,regional,local,etc.).ICSC has some great books on retail.Hope it helps.

Any recommendations on books to learn more about investing in tax liens?

If you can offer more money than they can reasonably get from an auction AND do so in a way that absolves them from showing favoritism, then you may be able to pull it offas a banker myself as far as I know selling assets through a non-bid process is a NO-NO. but I can't speak for all banks.

Hello from Houston TexasI am an advanced newbie which means i am reading the books, listening to the podcasts so i can dive into my 1st SFR buy. 

They get to book recovery and you get a property and the homeowner gets a second chance to move on.

Three days after their stay, I send a request for a review on Google, Facebook, and any OTA they may have booked through.