For instance there are some houses in my neighborhood that I like the looks/location of, or that are for sale.

For instance, ground floor footage is worth the most, second story maybe half, and basement maybe 10-15%.  

I realize this may seem like worrying or far fetched to some, but I'd like to hear constructive feedback, specifically any historical instances where this has taken place in other countries.

It is a consideration but only one of many factors to analyze.In Texas for instance you can buy a commercial NNN property or a multi-tenant strip center and the tenants pay the property taxes.Single NNN the tenants pays.

Jake; after studying the issue I realized what effect this might have on for instance the 1031 exchange business model.

For instance in Los Angeles it is very difficult to get the 1% rule because property prices are so high and rents are low.

See this Wall Street Journal article, for instance: http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014240527023...

In fact the only way you knew about foreclosures was by going to the county clerk office and looking up the lis pendens records (In NY) or by subscribing to foreclosure magazines like Photo Foreclosures, where they would list the specs on a given pre-foreclosure. 

The typical seasoning was about 6 months, not really sure what the market place is looking for now, but I'm sure each individual note buyer is going to have their own criteria.Also, you don't have to sell the entire note..for instance, your note is for 360 months (typical 30 yr mortgage note) you can sell 10 years worth of pymnts then after the 10 yrs are up you would then start getting the monthly pymnts back to you again.

For instance if there is a condo which has a set auction date of 27th January, would it be too late to work everything out?