There are several other tax professionals on here as well.

The bank has a $500K senior lien on the property through the mortgage. 

i'm looking for the forum's advice on the most efficient/effective way of weeding out properties. i'll be living in the property for at least a year. while i live there, i'll be living in it (so property can't be a complete rehab), fixing or improving the property, and then either flipping or renting out the property. i've looked at about 18 properties the past 3 weekends (i just started 3 weeks ago). the 18 properties were chosen based on 2 broad criteria: 1) based on pictures, description, and google street view, choose properties close to the metra (in illinois), in a location with a great high school (>=8 score), and in nice(r) neighborhood.2) look at zillow for an idea on property values in the neighborhood so that i'm not buying one of the most expensive houses in the neighborhood. if i feel the house i'm looking at is somewhat undervalued because it needs work and there's some room for me to flip, then house passes.this criteria has helped me weed out 100's of properties, but takes me a bit of time.i'm curious, is this a good start or are there other ways that the full time/professional investors use?

Sometimes, getting nothing is better in the sense that if they get wiped out in a senior lien foreclosure, their deficiency rights are preserved and they get to take the borrower to court and sue them for the full balance.

When you are doing these kinds of transaction, its best to get professional involved. good luck.  

We manage a Rental Portfolio valued at $800M, we are constructing over $600M of new Apartments and some Condos now, and are selling about $50M of our finished projects now.We buy only top projects in high urban demand in fill neighborhoods that are vetted by our team of professionals and banking partners for complete feasibility before starting.

But they do promise to include professional photos, 3D virtual tour, advertising on Zillow/Trulia etc.

All being said I went one where members who are professionals I checked out their credential and licenses.

What is the typical finding fee for professionals (lawyers, CPAs, consultants, etc.) that find investors to join my group?

I did make assumptions on insurance but I feel that $800/year is very low and that you would have 5% of rent in lawn care, professional fees for tax software and other, and a small budget for small repairs. 10% for property management is the norm until you are managing 5+ properties then you can start to get some breaks.I hope that you are able to make this work for you but it will be tight even with your 30% down payment which is a lot of cash to tie up.