Oh goodness, what do I do now?

[Derek Mercer]

Hello BP, I'm fairly new to the REI business and just completed the sale on a flip that took over 7 months, went way over budget, and almost lost money. Thankfully the market in that little pocket picked up during that 7 months or I would have lost money on my first "gut the entire house" flip. With that over and Jacksonville Florida being flooded with investors (not a lot of flip opportunities, but I'm probably too ignorant to recognize one unless it signed the contract for me) I'm trying to consider all of the little avenues to make a profit here and there. I mainly search MLS and sent out direct mail.

The only leads I have calling in from the direct mail with any equity are the ones that I would consider to be in shaky areas (bar on the windows of some homes) and are in the news every other day for a gun related crime. Up until this point I would just tell the seller I would check on a few things and get back with them with no intention at all of doing so. I'm starting to think that I may be missing out on some opportunities and there's a buyer market for every market so with a recent lead (which came as a referral from another lead) I ended up offering $15k for a duplex not knowing if that was too high or low. I didn't go in blind (actually I've never been inside the home) with the offer. After looking at some duplexes for sale and sold on Listingbook I thought that $15k was a safe bet and that I'll set up an option contract for 60 days and then try to find a buyer. If I can't find any one in 60 days then we'll our separate ways. 

Where do I go for buyers in these types of areas? I don't have a buyers list except for the people in my local REIA, but the people I've spoken to there really don't like the area. My only game plan is to place an add on Craigslist and try to reach out to a few folks who have purchased in the area before. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Is there a site out there to sell properties with bars on the windows? I'm pretty sure I'm wasting both the seller and my time, but I really need to get out of my comfort zone and just try it. I think when I do market the house I'll build a buyers list then for future deals, but in the meantime I need some other ideas to unload this property. Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Derek

P.S. For those of you who haven't tried ReZamp, it's pretty awesome and you're probably missing out. I heard about it on another forum and spent about 4 hours on it over the last 48 hours.