Direct phonecall instead of direct mail?

[Nicholas Morgan]

Hello everyone,

I've been looking for a multifamily to house hack for about 4 months now. There are quite a few on the MLS where I live, but not in a location where my fiancee and I would like to live after we're married (I live in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio area. Plenty of stuff near downtown, but we both work north-west of downtown near Blue Ash and Loveland/Goshen area if you're familiar).

I'm about to switch to searching out off-market deals instead of relying on the MLS. We are getting married at the end of October and plan to use an FHA loan. Due to the FHA loan taking about 45 days for closing, we're kinda strapped on time in terms of finding a property in time to have closed by the wedding on 10/27.

My question is, has anyone ever placed phone calls to property owners to discuss selling instead of direct mail letters? If so, did it go over well? What are your thoughts on that approach?  I feel like the response time to a direct mail letter could be a long time and we might be able to get quick results by placing a phone call. What do you think?

Thanks! 

-Nicholas