Also, if it's been more than two years (I think it's two years, don't quote me on that), here you are required to re-paint because of normal wear and tear.

The mortgage process is like the normal mortgage process but the loan most likely would be a Non-Recourse loan.  

My partner doesn't normally go for the low balance stuff but I wanted the experience and, as someone used to lower end rentals, I wasn't afraid of taking that kind of property back as an REO.I had a fuzzy idea of how the buying process worked and what you did to manage the note.

For example, there is a very small building materials store that sold SnapTile for 1.50-2.50 a square foot which normally runs 5-7 dollars a square foot in my area my flooring guy was unaware of.

Most of them don't care about the additional cost and are just glad everything is back to normal.

They watch and tally everything up and by the time they set foot on your jobsite, it's too late.  

However, I don't want to put a foot in that area, so I am working to build a team (property manager, handyman, etc) even before I start looking a properties there.

The clerk advised that for some reason the county never continued the normal process and no progress was made after 2001.

Normal time frame is 30 to 45 days and aprox  60 days if is contested. 

In fact the process is identical to a normal sale and purchase.