Motivated Seller List for First Time Homebuyer

[Noah Kanter]

I live in Burlington, VT and my first step to building a real estate portfolio needs to be getting out of the rental market and into a home. I know, bad timing. I'm tired of passively waiting around using the MLS as my only lead source and I'm wondering if/how to use Listsource/Propstream for my purposes.

I'd like my first purchase to be a duplex or SF live-in flip. I'm a paint contractor and I'd be comfortable handling pretty much everything cosmetic. I'd be a bit more hesitant to do a rehab loan but it's not totally ruled out. 

Has anyone used Propstream/Listsource to build a motivated seller list for a first time home buying situation? If so, what criteria would you recommend for sorting? What kind of motivated sellers exist in this hot market that wouldn't just want to use the MLS and get 20% over asking?

Any advice is appreciated!

-Noah