The FBI investigates bogus lenders, use them with a bank (or anyone) and they'll look at you too!

Learn how to chain or abstract title at the county recorder's office.Upon suspecting or anecdotal info about institutionalized, incarcerated or deceased owner, use your investigative skills.If deceased, look at death certificate for next of kin.

I said I had 15k cash because I'm still investigating finance options and am not sure what my max loan amount will end up being with that cash in.  

The agency identified on the notice investigated and found that the property appears to have been abandoned / left vacant.You can expect a Notice of Default or Lis Pendens (depending on your state) to be recorded against the property as soon as the lender gets around to it. 

If I lived there I would definitely invest, but since I am going to be an out of state investor the majority of the national is available to me, so I need to have some way to filter to a reasonable number of cities for deeper investigation.

I also write fictional crime and investigation mystery's available on Amazon.

In no particular order, you might want to investigate Waterford, Watervliet(really a part of Albany,) and Troy.

I'd like to investigate manufacture homes and multifamily.For about a month and a half I've been mailing to notice of default lists and so far haven't made a deal, and I'll admit it's a little frustrating (obviously, this isn't a very good get rich quick scheme), but it's giving us a lot of exposure to a lot of things.  

I also agree that "bad areas" can be profitable as long as the tenants are properly investigated, credit, background etc.

My wife and I have started investigating rental properties and house flipping as a way to build wealth and leave a legacy for our children.