What is your process?

I came across BiggerPockets as one of the first resources I encountered when I became interested in real estate investing, starting off with the BP podcast (I've marathoned ~60 episodes in two weeks) and the site itself.I'm excited (and to be honest, a fair bit intimidated) to get started in real estate investing, and I thought I'd reach out to the community to get more involved and accelerate my learning process.  

Late January, we get it rented out again.Between the process of eviction and the slowdown due to the holidays, it seems entirely possible that we'd miss out on 3-4 months rent by going with scenario 2, not to mention the expense and hassle of the eviction itself. 

We're in the process of suing the tenant for the back rent and damage to the unit and I'm guessing she called the city to report the violations to claim unsafe living conditions or something.

I wrote down my steps to begin so that I can visualize the process.

How close is it to public transportation?

So as I'm processing everyone's responses, here are my challenges (in my head):1.

Rehab is done and in the process of doing a refinance for funds for the next one.

As a brand new investor, perform this process at least 5-6 times before you have a job in hand that you're desperate to start.

So there are 1) very few scenarios where a deal makes sense, and 2) hundreds of other investors scrambling for the same deal when it does exist.With regards to short sales...A short sale is a long and drawn out (and often frustrating) process, and is not for the faint of heart, or for wholesaling, in my experience.