Leveraging direct-mail marketing as a first time investor

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Hello everyone,

I have a double question for the other investors/wholesalers in Quebec. (especially Montreal/Laval)

Here is a bit of background, my partner and I have been looking for our first property (single-family) and due to the pandemic lockdown being slowly lifted there has been a surge of demand for houses in our target neighborhood.

We are looking for a place that needs work and this hasn't seemed to reduce the competition in the area, the last two properties we went to see had 3-4 other offers by other DIY investors like myself willing to pay (almost) top dollar for properties needing lots of rehab. We cannot compete in bidding wars, it will eliminate any possible profit for us.

Ok so here are the questions:
How do I get deals from wholesalers or real estate firms that have already generated the lead? (especially wholesalers using direct mail marketing)
IMPORTANT! I wish to get the deal before it hits the MLS.

And if so, does anyone have any recommendations for how to find these wholesalers/ferms?

Also, I have a sort of related follow-up question:
After our first property I would like to start generating leads myself using direct-mail marketing, is this always done with cash paid in full? 
Has anyone had luck with some sort of financing for these types of deals?

Thanks.