Showstoppers to watch out for?

I wanna start investing into real estate I don't have any experience but I've been reading books and watching videos about it any advise on what and what not to do?

Watch out for the HOA / IRS liens that you mentioned, as well as Mechanics Liens and Personal liens if the home were used as collateral in a biz loan etc.

They can also watch their usage to lower bills as well.

Well I came upon 2 articles this week:http://trends.truliablog.com/2013/05/trulia-bubble-watch/this one puts Las Vegas as #1 in "undervalued" marketshttp://www.theatlanticcities.com/housing/2012/03/where-buy-and-where-rent-now/1545/This article doesn't show it in top 10 but marks Las Vegas as affordable.

Depending on how well you know the contractor and/or how reputable they are, you may want to watch out for that.They may be able to offer a better perspective of things that are or will cause problems in the future vs. an inspector, which as you mentioned typically sticks to a template that was built for a home buyer not an investor.

I will be watching this post to see if others on line have a set up like this.

I'd say at least once a month I dream that I suddenly "remembered" a property I own (it's usually something extra cool like a castle or a huge house with secret passages) but I haven't been collecting rent or watching it.

Who's watching the first legit game of the NBA Finals?

You may want to watch for and do a search of posts from MikeOH, he has a strong sense of reality when it comes to rentals.