Let me preface this by noting that my wife and I usually see eye-to-eye and get along really well...about most things.

In general for remote flipping, my GCs manage the progress of the work, and the local realtor is my eyes and ears and I pay them for their time. 

I have my eye on one particular REO property but there are many in the ways of vacant/abandoned yet gorgeous homes.

Thank you Rich, I thought you had abandoned me.Taking Palin over Obama would be like taking Rib Eye over Oscar Meyer Bologna.

Is it Paint, carpet and some few new appliances to sooth the eye?

We examined this issue extensively and decided that it wasn't something that could be implemented in a manner that would have any value.That said, you can quickly and easily see all forum posts from any user by going to:http://www.biggerpockets.com/posts/user/USERNAMEMost power users of the site typically keep an eye on their dashboard forum feed to see those topics that have come up of interest to them, or if interested in a particular user, go to the page with all their posts.That all said, if the brain trust here has some kind of solution to the forum issue I described above, I'm more than happy to listen.Thanks for the post -- I tried to answer as best I could.

Just remember to keep an eye on the Redbirds.

There are quite a few people on Facebook and when you join, it's put on your profile and your profile is an easy way to get the Bigger Pockets name in front of more eyes.

Markets tend to be driven partly by emotions and they shoot up beyond FMV on the way up and below FMV on the way down.Many parts of the Mid-West seem to have shot down below FMV and the absolute dollar prices of homes makes people's eyes pop out.

Having third party assistance is crucial and even an investor as experienced as myself uses them.I am not a wholesaler by trade, but a buy, fix, and flip guy (at least right now), but do on occassion wholesale one of my deals.When I plan to acquire a property to flip, I almost ALWAYS get a home inspection as two sets of eyes are better than one and there is certainly some items I could miss upon initial walkthrough.