My understanding so far is the loan is secured through a middle man RE Agent. 

Middle school math is fun and you really can't beat the time off us teachers have, but you can really only take so much for so long.

I would read up on the BRRRR strategy (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat)  if you haven't already (read and watch about it here https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/brrrr-buyrehabrentrefinancerepeatprimer/ or https://youtu.be/udWrw5vhm2k)This is the strategy I'm targeting and am currenty in the middle of acquiring a property from a local wholesaler that I found after connecting with him and his partner on BiggerPockets.

The city is growing again at a small pace according to recent population numbers, which is a good sign for long term investment.

recently dropped from 75k to down 60k  (a year ago a similar triplex nearby sold for 75k)The owner is out of state and will carry a note - willing to take 10k down and carry 30 years @5% with 5 year balloon through his realtor.has 2  2/1 on each end that will rent out for about 450 and in the middle a 1/1 to rent about 350Personally, I can't imagine allowing people to live in such conditions, and would have to fix it up as best as possible - keeping in mind the neighboring houses are in disrepair as wellsounds like a great deal but also a potential nightmare:/

Depending on your county, dockets sometimes fill up if you file late on the 6th, so you may have an extra day or two until your court date compared to filing towards the middle of the month.

I have made the least amount of money from this method.Bidding at the foreclosure sales would be some where in the middle, once again depending on the county your working.And pre foreclosures would probably be the easiest, but you will be looking at a lot more properties, and the largest percentage of them the owners are not going to be interested in selling. 

Actually, regardless if you are in the middle or the end buyer the funds are due. 

So I always have an alarm installed, and am in the middle of considering installing video as well, something like ring.

I did in order To get cash quickly for another deal I was in the middle of, however that messed me up on other aspects of my business.