Right across the street from this property is a newly renovated apartment building http://www.arlingtongroveapts.com/index.aspx  Researching the area:https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/...https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/n/wells-goodf...http://www.stltoday.com/search/?

2- How do you search for liens on a property?

Search on Angie's List or ask around at your local REIA.

Do you have any particular sites you would use to search for investment properties.

Good luck with your search. 

I can easily search company names in my state on the Florida Division of Corporations website and find out who created the entity, their address, the date they created, whether it is active or inactive, etc.

There's info and Q/A's available on it through an internet search. 

I’ve been able to identify some very profitable off market deals this way.Good luck

Also when purchasing from auctions if you do a title search and it comes back clean is it still recommend to purchase title insurance?

That can add $80 a monthWe just closed on a house for $110k that will rent at about the same to give you some perspective (and found it right off the MLS, though it took about a year of searching.