But realtors have more updated information in terms of market inventory level and market trend. 

Can advise me at all on that approach & what type of materials in terms of text & message content would i need in order to be successful using this approach?

The RICH Club and The Wealth Club here in Houston both offer different versions of a "Newbie" club / meeting fairly often and that may be a good place for you to meet other new investors in the area.I like to think of real estate in terms of a time vs. money trade-off.

But like I said, the $5K was a bargain investment in terms of hands-on education: negotiating the purchase, note assignments docs and recording, hiring a foreclosing trustee service, dropping the minimum bid to below face value of the note, SOL on promissory notes, forced place insurance, negotiating a DIL (failed), working with interested short sale buyers before the trustee sale (no buyer came through), attending the sale.

I am a professional Architect.Apart from regular building design, I designed many big and small scale commercial and residential renovation projects, However this was my first hands on(literally, looked around for the cheapest and good material and hand carried them to the site.) flip as a Real Estate Entrepreneur, where investors put their money and I put my sweat equity in terms of design, construction drawings, permit and construction management.It was a Gut open rehab.

In terms of next steps, has anyone moved from a model like mine to a higher attention required model that might offer better returns?

Among those reasons, it was virtually impossible to find anything out about the property in terms of previous rents, repairs, etc., as it was a foreclosure.It seems like these properties could potentially be great deals, but there are a lot of unanswered questions and that makes it difficult to pull the trigger.I guess my question is how to approach evaluating a foreclosure differently than you might for a property where you can actually contact the owner or seller's agent for answers to common questions.Thanks.

Ohio is great in terms of CAPs.

There is a sold comp that is very comparable in terms of location and restrictions on building and I would be confident using that comp, adjusting downwards to be ultra conservative in submitting an offer.

However that tenant was leaving just then. 850 is fine in terms of covering the expenses, but there are improvements that will need to be made eventually and the extra 50-100 month would go a long way.