Pretty easy to not check this and have a failure after you close...

I would say any rehab project would need to be fairly close to me.

Quote from @Keilon Morton: I am looking to secure my first tax sale and need another investor to go in on the deal.

As you start closing deals, you will need to reinvest your profits into mailing lists and other scalable activities to grow your business.

At the end of the day, both of these respective vendors/individuals are paid when the deal closes. 

Purchase price: $69,000 Cash invested: $35,000 Sale price: $120,000 Summer 2018, I flipped this 1925 Polytech bungalow.

Purchase price: $69,000 Cash invested: $35,000 Sale price: $120,000 Summer 2018, I took on this off-market fixer-upper in the Polytechnic area of Fort Worth.

When they book it just be close to that price.

I'd recommend starting with the lower hanging fruit than a large basement reno - if your comps are close but don't quite get you to your number.Finishing the basement (with proper egress) could push you over the top, but confirm with an appraiser first to ensure it counts.

Lower property taxes, affordable housing compared to LA (CA buyers are usually cash buyers because what they net from their smaller home in CA can get them a bigger home here, often covered by what they net from their CA sale), allergies (smog), and politics.