Now I know I have to really dig into the owner's history to get the full picture.

I have no experience in mortgages (as I never had one) and I know that most of the big banks will probably not give me any loans (I have very limited employment history).

Did you know the entire central and eastern part of the country is being rebid and there will most likely be one asset management company for each region now?  

However, there is no way to check the balances, payment history etc.

Unless you have made contact with the players out there and now what they want you might have a hard time unloading a deal even if you got something pretty good.I'd advice stay in the eastern half of the state and South of Concord if you want to narrow it more go South of Manchester.  

I will check people posting history for credibility now too, good catch Troy.

You generally have to have some rental history for the lender to consider that as a part of your income. 

In which case look at the Eastern Mass REIA in Taunton (2nd meeting in Rockland) and the RIREIG in Warwick RI.  

Click...' and the rest is history.

This would be a one year loan which I hope to convert to a traditional 15 year mortgage after the property has established a suitable rental history.