There is no need for a license since we're buying the house.We can just wait to buy it the auction (3-6 months from now) as @Bill Gulley said or just do a shortsale as @Wayne Brooks suggested.

. - if you do end up with a personal check, you could go to his bank to cash it - no waiting - but this could end up a hassle if you have to drive across town to do it.

If you have a strong historical capital and rent appreciation rate it might make sense to get into this market and wait for natural rent increases and appreciation to take hold and make for better investments if you wanted to stay local.You could also consider looking for turn-key investments in another city (Indy, Memphis, etc) where the returns could be much better - but the risk without having the ability to drive by the properties could be greater.

I love reading these success stories.I can't wait to hear about the next one!

It seems to put you at a real negotiating disadvantage since you have to wait until you have made your initial offer to get a sense of the condition of the property. 

It happened on a Saturday and Monday was a Holiday so I had to wait until Tuesday for the part.

We put low flush toilets in all our units - unless the waste line is deteriorated cast iron (read: high friction), then we will wait until we upgrade the plumbing.

If I waited about 6 months, I could save enough from my paycheck to pay for the 10k in closing costs and taxes.Has anyone tried a hard money loan or something similar to a pay for closing costs?

This one needs minimal work; paint, flooring, ac condensor and minor repairs.

I put minimal amount of my money in using mostly sweat equity as my portion of down money.