What I've done so far...
Joined a real estate club - I joined the closest real estate club to my house, which is unfortunately about an hour and a half drive away. I chose this club because they have a monthly subgroup for my county.
Created an LLC - I know this wasn't an absolute necessity, but it gave my wife some peace of mind about my new venture.
Sent direct mail to preforeclosures - I sent a first batch of mailings on 8/13. This was a big step for me since I FINALLY took some action with something. I mailed 88 letters and received 5 calls in the days following.
I was scared to answer the phone, so I let them all go to voicemail. I did call them all back, and spoke to one person directly (unmotivated), and left a message detailing my services to the other callers. I didn't hear back from them and didn't follow up.
I haven't done anything since then since we had a guest staying with us for about 2 weeks. I plan to get started again within the next week. From now on, I know I need to start actually answering the phone. Otherwise, what's the point of even doing this.
This week...
I would like to send out another batch of mailings, probably preforeclosures again since that is the list that I have available. I will probably only send out 50 letters, in an attempt to start a routine where I send 50 out every week. I figure that is a manageable number where I can find time to print them out and put them together.
Next Tuesday, I plan to attend a Sheriff's sale to see if I can find and talk to some buyers.