Do you know a ballpark of what the whole process costs?

To go beyond the scope of the forum question, if you do get an employee, get a pro to help you set up business processes to make sure they can't defraud you blind. 

Any thoughts on how this process usually works.

If you do go through this process write down everything that happens.

These years taught me so much about lender owned processes, short sales and investor's formulas.  

I am a small business person in the Inland Empire ( recycling/transportation/business consulting) , that is looking to learn and invest in the Inland Empire.  

In other words automate the entire process from scraping to automated email campaigns. 

She is also interested in buying more properties and continuing this process after some talking from the things I have been learning up here and looking to implement.

Then on top of that, their application process is a total joke.  

So what I'm looking for from you, the greatest RE community, is some guidance on which strategy I should go with, and / or more details about HUD homes.I'd love to connect with people who have:Gone through the process of buying a HUD home (so I could get a step-by-step)An agent that specializes in HUD homes (I've heard too many stories of unqualified agents dropping the ball)Experience in the University Heights market (I've been looking on the west side mostly)Experience with FHA / 203(k) loans (to go over finer details)I would be extremely grateful if anyone could help at all.