Over the past three years, I’ve been using most of the major off-market techniques.
One standout method has always been pulling data and feeding it into a call center to generate off-market leads. In my opinion, this is much more effective than texting, which often feels like a constant game of cat and mouse with phone carriers. It’s relatively simple and, while it does cost money, it’s one of the more cost-effective options. That said, expect to deal with a fair amount of fluff leads.
The two best strategies I’ve found are inbound methods: direct mail and Google Ads.
As you mentioned, direct mail can be expensive, but it can also result in highly discounted properties.
Regarding SEO, while it’s a valuable strategy, it’s not necessarily "cheap." SEO takes several months to produce results, and the process can be slow and costly.
Google Ads, on the other hand, doesn’t require data extraction like calls, direct mail, or texting. However, it does demand solid digital marketing expertise to see positive results. These days, I’m all in on Google Ads.
Since it seems you are pretty new, and I saw it on the replies - finding properties by doing Drive 4 Dollars can be a great start, and then skip tracing their details and calling them directly.