Especially if you are out-of-state and don't have a full team of professionals on speed-dial.

When you come across someone more motivated by speed than top dollar, boom just buy it yourself.

@Mahan Shahverdi If you private message me I can give you some things to look at that will speed up your learning curve on this whole thing.Hope that helps,Chris Pre

After consulting others much wiser than I, the consensus has been that the home value has peaked and will begin to decline with the neighborhood. 

Speed is usually the difference maker in choosing a hard money lender. 

@Adam Mazzochi @David Krulac  I think David will agree that Tax sales are very regional.you have tax cert sales  and tax deed sales then something in the middle.. its far more complicated out in the upper east than it is say in CA were I cut my teeth.. in CA its tax deed just like buying a foreclosure.and now a days you bid on line through Bid 4 Assets at most counties.. in the old days you went to the court house and it would be full.. but the bid process was much slower than an east coast tax cert sale.I have been to tax cert sales in MS for example they will sell 30,000 tax certs in 3 days it goes at lighting speed and there is virtually no way to hone in on one property and buy it..Maybe in your area it slows down and you can bid on what your aiming for..

Market value is about $340k and I feel the neighborhood is peaking.

Peaking in the windows and looking at the exterior condition can tell you a lot.

I'm also working a 40 hour/week job, so if I manage to get tenants in the house for rent I'll be able to bankroll all of the rental profits along with all of the income I get from my day job, which will speed up the process of buying and renting out properties while minimizing the amount of risk that I am taking on. 

So - just playing devil's advocate here - you're buying at the peak of market value, then relying on appreciation ONLY to make your return and cover your note when you choose to sell?