My goal right now is to educate myself with the help of books and hopefully mentors.

Welcome @Pat IdouxI frequently see houses in your area on the HUD list that seem to languish there for a while.  

You would need appraisal and/or inspection to make educated offer, 15K sounds too high with tax lien, the next thing you know there is 1K water bill, or some other problem :), these type of houses I would make low-ball offers.

However, once we really get the ball rolling they should be coming in much more frequently (I hope).Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion?

I am spending a lot of time educating myself on REI but i think it is a time to take action!!!

., a southeastern suburb of Atlanta.Operating from the firm’s largest branch office at a former meatpacking plant in Atlanta, Starwood Waypoint’s acquisitions team evaluates potential purchases with a data map that ranks the “livability” of local neighborhoods according to information provided by local employees of the firm who frequently visit the area.

So the education piece is well underway.I announced before that I was going to enroll in the Pre Sales Real Estate license class.

You will also have continuing education you must complete every year or two depending on the state.  

You can also browse all of the links under the "Education" tab at the top of the page to the right of the Bigger Pockets logo.

Make sure to check out Education for all your REI learning.