Red flags (such as code violations etc) generate motivation, combined with equity generally lend themselves to producing deals.

My past experience has shown that open source projects (usually written in PHP or Java) are great because you just look at the source code and modify it to do whatever you want.

I am in York as far as a zip code but really closer to Lancaster CO than York city.

Here's a follow up story to the article above:http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/FinancialPrivacy/social-security-number-code-cracked.aspx

My concern is with the age of the house are you able to rehab and sell the house even if the wiring is not up to code or if you have any lead paint issues?

(c) The landlord shall not be required to serve a notice to vacate as provided in Section 1923.04 of the Ohio Revised Code or to bring a forcibly entry and detainer action as provided in Chapter 1923 of the Ohio Revised Code to obtain possession or occupancy of a dwelling unit that, according to the provisions of this Section, the tenant has abandoned.

Insurance is different state to state and city by city (and even zip code by zip code), but generally speaking insurance on a vacant house is more expensive than a house that has someone living in it,,and they often won't cover as much.A vacant house is much more likely to have a lossandy

Does the neighbor have any code violations?

So it seems we have two people who don't know how to do this using realtor.com - here's how.1. go to http://www.realtor.com/2. select the "recently sold" button / tab3. enter property info - just a zip code or specific address4. press the search button (the magnifying glass icon)Let me know if that doesn't work for you :)You'll still have to filter for beds, baths, and square footage, but an agent has to do that too.

I have a few zip codes that I like and am familiar with and was thinking of starting with direct mail to absentee owners (perhaps the 300 per week suggested here).