Many small time land lords just don't have the resources to dedicate to get proper tenants.  

I am looking to find the proper resources to answer my questions and guide me in the right direction so that I can begin a venture of investing.  

If I did not mention the property taxes, how do I ensure the buyer pays 10.5 months worth of taxes at closing?

The other big risk with any investment right now in the AV is that the market is fairly high right now and historically this area gets absolutely hammered when a recession comes ... it always comes back, so if you are a long term investor it won't matter as much, but something to be aware of and carefully structure to ensure that you can hold through a downturn to make it to the long term.

He/She may not feel comfortable with the price/location/or time of year and will want to make sure they can get it rented out in a proper manner for you.

Or was the work done with permits and proper documentation?  

It's like they put a bunch of brand new shiny appliances in there and didn't bother to hook them up properly.

While you are waiting for that to happen, educate yourself on how to properly screen tenants and mitigate risk for when the bad ones sneak through.I use situations like this to educate myself and build policy to prevent the same problem from happening again.

Make sure you have the proper and legal documentation (use a title company).You could offer to buy (have assigned to you) the tax sale purchaser's position in the certificate, this puts you in the chain of title.

She was easy to work with, has an experienced crew that do good work, and was able to make the job fit my budget while ensuring that no corners were cut.