Many drink the Kool-Aid  and think this is based on reality.

I had to google Pepperell as I'm relatively new to MA:)  Welcome to the site. 

I use Trulia to output searches in RSS, then I use IFTTT to create new spreadsheet rows in Google Docs.I'll then methodically look through the entries that fall within my search parameters.

I would talk with a local hard money lender called Pine Financial (google their name).

I Googled the first five pages of "LA County Foreclosure" and nothing free is available.lacounty.gov - nothingftb.ca.gov - nothing

As far as recommending a particular institution, outside of your local institutions there are all kinds of national lenders, it takes about 30 seconds to find a raft load of them on Google. 

You can target Adwords (Google's search advertising platform) for terms buyers are searching for, about your area, like "homes for sale in Austin" but geographically exclude the Austin area. 

I was introduced to this site through a Google search a few months back.

Look at the multifamily investing associations to find those players and work out your google fu from there. 

Every state has different laws so you will have to do some Googling and check.Good luck!