My only thought so far is flying to the cities I plan to buy in and living there for 2-4 weeks.I know this isn't the ideal environment to be flying in and there are certain restrictions to my benefits.

I am a traveler, and a full time student, so the ideal position would be something remote.

With the internet auction it is not rare to see hundreds of bidders per property.There are still some niche where you can get some good deals.In my case in Florida I only buy tax certificates (liens) and get some good returns (18% in general but sometimes way more if I’m lucky).

I am browsing the internet looking at multi family investment opportunities.

We've seen some crazy stuff in leases (like landlord supplying all utilities plus internet services in an area where this is not common at all). 

It might cost a bit but it will save you from expensive mistakes.Advice you may get from Internet posters is worth what you pay for it :)

Just confused on what to do here... do I need to talk to her lender about the lien, I have scoured the Internet and YouTube but the best answer I’m getting is a subject to but without a mortgage, and only a lien... how can I do this?

Most likely though South Central, East Los Angeles, or somewhere like silver lake, los feliz, downtown are probably the most ideal locations. 

@Justin Mayne i deal with this sort of thing often with folks buying houses for us to manage. 

@Andy Nathan right now I'm just doing searches on the internet trying to get my feet wet.