In the lender's eyes, no sale has occurred since I would just come in to pay back the arrears and continue making monthly payments on the distressed owner's mortgage, right? 

I'm actually located in the Bowling Green, KY area and we have as of yet to suffer any of the dramatic ups and downs that occur in other markets when the real estate market implodes periodically.

. - Check news on what are the major economic/business development that's announced and will gonna occur in the next few years, especially in New Albany.Compare your research with the next best market on your list and you should have a good sense of where you would like to invest.Love to hear success stories from yer in a couple of hears! 

My response when a tenant calls me these days (infrequent,  but still sometimes occurs) is almost always a polite  "please contact the PM -  I've hired them to be your 24/7 first point of contact if you need anything. 

And the moment this happens is when the sale is deemed to have occurred - not when the deed transfers.  2.

If you are setting aside funds for capex, taxes, insurance, or other expenses that don't occur monthly, transfer those funds to Savings each month and hold them there until it's time to spend them.

I often break it down into the "five pillars" of protecting your assets.1st pillar is avoiding unnecessary and risky activities (don't drink and drive, insurance generally won’t cover your poor decisions) and take good care of your investments - these simple steps will help you prevent lawsuits before they even occur.2nd pillar is a good insurance policy as that cover the majority of your exposure.

When purchased for cash and no bank involvement, an investor may take it over and hope no City/DOB infractions occur.

This is the only way you’re going to be guaranteed that money plus repair of damages that occur during those 6 months and during eventual move out.

Since I have a wholesaler friendly contract (assignable, has exit clauses) I think her lawyer would hesitate to sign it, or other problems could occur.