I've been driving for dollars as of late, and I finally found a home that looks to be abandoned (overgrown landscape, mailbox completely full, broken windows, and the whole nine).

What you can't prevent is a sober living house from opening up next door and driving your tenants away.

I would try to contact a RE trainer in the state. everyone has to get their RE training from someone and the top RE trainer in that state will know whose good and whose bad.

@Alexandra Gortchilova  one thing you may consider is to hook up with a premier hard money lender in your market.. he or she will have a stable of mostly successful flippers already as clients.. then you just shadow the broker putting you into the deals. the broker will share or should share the due diligence with you.. you can drive by look at the property to decide if you want to fund it.. you can go there and watch it being done.. poke around ask questions..

I heard that you can donate a house to a local fire department for a training.

As @Lumi Ispaswrote, the neighborhood is just NW of a super hot area in Chicago, its close to the train, I-90 highway, and bars/restuarants/coffee shops.

I am trying to figure out how to find the property owners after I have been driving for dollars!

There are also individual training sessions on a variety of topics.

I made the choice to live in a modest home a drive a modest vehicle....

Btw- I live about 15 minutes drive from Yonkers, NY.