On the other hand, I feel one of the main advantages of passive investments (via syndication/crowdfunding) is that I can hire a manager who has years more experience than I can ever hope to obtain myself.

You don't want to a rookie do work for you, you would certainly not hire yourself!

Theres a great book called Florida Foreclosure Sales by Natalia Ouelette Grice, which is chock full of information on Foreclosure Sales and how the process works.

Sifting through sooo much information seems to generally be the biggest issue. 

Biggest thing I can recommend is hiring a legit management company that will take landlords who don’t own a lot of units seriously.

For insurance reasons, she can't hire employees (yet), so she runs it 100% by herself. 

Lots of good information in there. 

So if you want more information, then private message me.

We are really happy with the results, but I would have hired out more before we moved in if I could do it again.  

You have found the right place for a plethora of information on REI.