(made that one up) Look for what doesn't fit code.

They understand that it would have to be at a discount to the amount owed and would need to make sense for me.There is roughly $360K in unpaid principle @4.00% and 311 monthly payments remaining. 

I have properties—vacant lots—that I will be wanting to sell in the future that I bought at tax sales and come with quitclaim deeds.

step 1 is buying a distressed property at a great price, which is really tough to do right now, and way harder than it was 5 or 10 years ago. 

I'll be looking for:tax returnsbank statementsany invoicesutilitiesWhat should broker provide?

I do have a subscription to AirDNA but have not looked at pricelabs at all.

Sounds like someone way overpaid at the HOA foreclosure auction, hence the surplus funds. 

I found one had been sold, and I was extremely surprised to find that there were none for sale at all. 

I’m debating if this is worth it in the long run because If I do then I get them paid off earlier but at the same time I could be using that extra money to expand my portfolio and buy more houses .

Quote from @Jason Kudo: I have a property in the Joshua Tree market and it's doing fantastic.That's great for you :-) However the OP might want to know if you paid cash, have a loan, at what APR, and all that good stuff that could make the difference for him having a decent ROI.