There are other valuation considerations for real estate as there are other reasons to assess value, legal aspects such as estate valuations, bankruptcy, business termination and liquidation, but here we look to an open market approach along with the cost and replacement approaches as applicable, the cost approach is really not applicable to a residential lot and replacement is only applicable to improvements.  

And it won't be on some nominal amount ($1 or $10), but on an imputed value based on the tax assessor assessed value multiplied by a leveling factor.

When researching a property, what are good ways to gather information to assess if the property is a good investment?  

You have to assess the cost of repair first with your capital outlay versus the upside profit potential of the property.If the capital risk is high for a lower to medium profit then you might want to JV to diversify.   

I always recommend people get a PCAD (post compliance assessment determination) done by a licensed inspector at every tenant turnover or every 5 years, whichever comes first.

All that being said, it's a quality chunk of land that's assessed at around $30k.

If you plug the numbers into the BP calculators, you can assess the detail more thoroughly. 

You'd be better off studying their financials, reserve study and find out what work they've done over the years (roof, exterior, elevator) those are big ticket items and with a lack of reserve funds could be a special assessment for you. 

You'll likely have to do/get a site survey, submit that to the builidng dept/TRPA and then wait for them to do a site assessment.  

The court could have used the assessed value, etc.