Landlord Buying Like a Wholesaler

[Wade G.]

I am a low volume buyer and in the past I have bought off the MLS or pocket deals from realtors. I get good deals that way but I think I could get better deals buying like a wholesaler. For my next purchase I thought I would change things up a bit and use direct mailing to find my next deal. I have a full time job so all I need is to buy one or two house a year for buy and hold. By researching old topics it seems that probate sales are a popular way to find leads. In my case I only want to buy in a few select neighborhoods that are close to where I live. These are neighborhoods that I know well so rental and sales comps are not a mystery. My thought was to just drive the areas and look for neglected homes and just use the repeated mailout method. Is driving for dollars really effective or is there a better way to find motivated sellers in select areas? I'm not sure about the bandit sign method since these areas are all in designated cities where there are applicable regulations against it.