Second, the long pole in most of these transactions is the time it takes to do a title search and the deed recording.There's a lot of promise for smart contracts in the space, but I wouldn't trust any smart contract for such a large transaction in the short-term.

Will they accept a probate short sale?

I started out wanting to do flips but quickly discovered that I like rentals better.

Most people with short tenancy just need items stored for a few weeks and the free first month types of ads mean you won't actually get paid at all from that tenant.....or worse, they'll come back month #2 saying "it cost so much to move, I just can afford to pay Xamount for this unit.

I also did a BRRR on a townhome I bought as a short sale in 2012. 

Short answer, if the HOA foreclosed and now the mtg holder is foreclosing, you will indeed get proper title. 

Ultimately, I'm not too concerned with short term price fluctuations - it's about having the liquidity to survive a 3-5 year recession and the associated declines in rents.

I recently discovered the neighborhood near Lanier highschool (East of MOpac, north of Burnet) that looks pretty good. 

Well, I need $25k to get the job done, which means I'm $3,000 short.

I assuming you’re using a PM that collects that short rental tax?