I'm house hacking a duplex and practically living rent free.

I would advise having a website with good SEO to drive traffic to you.

I know in theory seller can sell at any time prior to the auction, but practically, is there a point in time when it becomes "too late" and they'd rather go to auction? 

I don’t know if this is common practice, but I separate each property I gave in it’s own checking account 

I've read interest needs to be paid, but it's along the same rates as banks pay in a regular checking or savings acct, which is practically nothing, and not a large enough sum to make a dent in your pocket.

Immediately after reading the book, I discovered Bigger Pockets and have now decided that real estate investment is the most practical and realistic vehicle for me to achieve financial independence.

It seems best practice right now is to work out a payment plan and also put the tenant in touch with any state, county or city support available to tenants to help them pay rent.

We copied this from the mortgage industry practice of late fee charges. 

If not, renting by the room probably isn't practical.

You will NEVER beat me or my clients in SEO Period!